


Rose Snow

by RubyDracoGirl



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dusttale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Bara Sans (Undertale), Big Sans (Undertale), Bite Kink, Cracked Soul, Dubious Consent, Dust Papyrus is called Vapor, Dust Sans is called Ash, Dust!tale, Dusttale Papyrus - Freeform, Ecto-Penis (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), F/M, Gyftot is scary, Horror Papyrus is called Rake, Horror Sans is called Jaws, Horror!Tale, Horrortale Papyrus (Undertale), Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Multi, Nightmare!Sans is involved, Original female oc - Freeform, Period Kink, Rape/Non-con Elements, Size Difference, Size Kink, Threesome - F/M/M, Unique Soul trait, Voice Kink, crossed over with Rainbone Zone, i'll add more tags if I think of them, killer!sans, lots of gore, multiple AUs, sanswich
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2020-08-14 15:42:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20194681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyDracoGirl/pseuds/RubyDracoGirl
Summary: Jaws hates Ash.Ash hates Jaws.They both need just one more human soul, to save their worlds.One is all it will take.Too bad she's damaged goods.





	1. Run, Rabbit, Run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoseDarkfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseDarkfire/gifts).

> Ok  
So, this is highly experiemental. I've figured some stuff out, but the rest, eh, we'll see. This is very different from what i normally write, and i'm not gonna lie, i'm nervous.
> 
> But here it is. My take on Horror, with Dusttale thrown in there for good measure. These are the same Skeletons who make an appearance in Rainbone Zone.
> 
> Have fun... and be safe. Mind the tags.

The snow seemed to snag at her legs, holding her back as she tried, desperately, to race through the forest, the cold air ripping and shredding her lungs like paper.

She could hear him, laughing softly behind her, as though this was a friendly joke.

“Little snack… where are you going?”

_No, oh no, where’s the other one? I know there’s two, where is he?!_

Her heart plummeted as she struggled through a snowdrift. In a blind panic, she didn’t see the drop and she shrieked as she fell. There was a weird sensation and suddenly, she was wrapped in a cold embrace.

A manic smile greeted her from a hooded face, blue and red magic leaking like radioactive steam from the squinting socket.

“Found you.”

She shrieked and struggled, but his grip was like iron, not to mention the sudden weight in her chest.

She heaved, her ribs expanding and contracting painfully with breath.

“Hmmm… I like my prey a little less frozen. What say we get you somewhere warm? Then”-chuckle- “the fun can start.”

She continued to struggle, ignoring the sharp pains in her wrists and chest, as he growled, “You better stop your fighting, Rabbit, or I’ll give you something to fight about.”

She ignored him, mortal terror driving her, as she snapped at his face with her teeth. He moved too quickly for her, rearing back to duck her bite and then rushing forward to bash his skull into hers, effectively knocking her out.

He smirked, hearing crunching footsteps behind him.

“Ash.” Growled the raw tones, “That is _my_ prey.”

Ash merely chuckled, “Oh? Seems I caught her fair and square.”

He looked over to his counterpart, who was gripping a hatchet tightly in his fist, his one glowing socket peering from the darkness.

“We gonna have a problem, _Ash_?”

“You know _Jaws_.” Ash smirked,” You’re too greedy. You don’t see the opportunities we’ve got here.”

Jaws gazed back unblinkingly, silent and wary as he hefted the hatchet in his tight grasp, its razor sharp edge glinting in the sparse light.

Ash turned towards him, holding the human in his grasp as he smirked, “There’s more to life than just… _eating_ you know.”

Jaws snarled, taking offense, “I’ve NEVER-“

“Pfft, I’m messing with ya, bonehead… but I DO know what you do to those poor _innocents_ that fall down here… feeding them to your hungry rabble.”

Jaws gazed questioningly and silently as Ash walked towards him, leering,” I just feel… it’s a waste of flesh… of LV.”

“The hell d’ya know about LV, _buddy_.” Jaws growled, deeply annoyed by his alternate. 

"M' willing to bet more than you do, _pal_." 

Jaws snarled low in his throat, debating. He could fight his alternate, pull him into an encounter, but then he'd risk the soul of the human. If she was harmed-

“This isn't what you think. I have no intention of eating this bitch. I need something else from her. You can fucking have her… _after I’m done._" Ash smirked, drawing the human closer to his face as he leaned into her neck and took a deep breath. There was _something_ there, in her scent, although it was so cold, it was hard to tell just what it was.

Jaws felt his tongue curl, his pupil dilated as he snarled," GIVE. HER. TO. ME " 

Ash snickered

"Naw. You'll have to catch me, if ya want her!"

And the crazed skeleton vanished. Jaws let loose a roar that echoed through the woods, and his pupil blew wide as he activated his powers, his magic sensing his duplicate's trail.

Ash led Jaws on a merry chase, teleporting away just as Jaws felt he’d catch up.

Jaws snarled, he knew this game all too well. 

With a grunt he stopped reacting with his anger, putting himself in his duplicate's place. If he were Ash…

He knew exactly where'd he go.

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

Ash smirked as he finally landed in the lab, behind the old house in Snowdin. Perfect. He was finally gonna get out of this hell.

When that black, goopy duplicate that wasn't a true duplicate had found him and offered him a "job of sorts", Ash had taken a hard pass.

_"Not gonna be anyone's lapdog, buddy."_

And suddenly, he was ripped from his own timeline and dropped into this horror-show of an alternate timeline, the goopy bastard giving a leering crescent moon smile.

_If you should change your mind, I'll be waiting._

Ash had tried, very hard, to keep away from all the other monsters, haunted by his sins… and becoming even more haunted by the things he'd witnessed.

Frisk never came back… this was almost worse than what he'd experienced. Everyone was slowly starving… at least with his timeline, their deaths had been painless…. Most of these monsters weren't even recognizable as the ones he had known, and yet-

_-IT’S HARD TO LOOK AT THEM, ISN’T IT?_

There it was again, that odd voice. It _sounded_… like his brother, but Ash knew Papyrus was _gone_. Whatever this… _This Vapor_ was, it couldn't be his little brother.

_OH MY DEAR BROTHER, YOU WOUND ME…IT’S LIKE A STAB IN THE BACK WHEN YOU TALK THAT WAY._

"My brother _was never_ that sarcastic." Ash grumbled as he set the human down on the table, rubbing at his sockets in exhaustion.

Teleporting away from Jaws had been fun… he probably should have reserved some energy though,-

The noise had been nearly inaudible, as he quickly vanished, just barely dodging the attack.

Swearing loudly, Ash looked into the manic grin of Jaws, who sneered, " Aw, don't look so disappointed, Ash. Ya had to know I'd find you sooner or later."

"Bite me, you cannibal freak." Ash sneered back, his sockets pulsing and flowing with magical output.

“That could be arranged.”

With a grin that widened even more, Jaws hefted his hatchet, casting a glance to the little human on the medical table behind Ash.

Stars, she sure was pretty, her soft skin tender and pulsing with life, her fiery brown hair dripping with the remains of snow-

"Eyes on _me_, freak." Ash snarled as he summoned a bone attack.

Jaws swung his hatchet with swift, precise movements, easily swiped the attacks away, left right, up and down, smirking.

"I still have _my_ bro ta train with… I'm guessing _you_ don't."

Ash hissed and spit, like an angry leopard, his maw peeling back to reveal a fanged and manic smile of his own.

"That _would _be telling." Ash hoarsely leered, sockets hollow.

Jaws snarled," I don't _intend_ to lose my bro. So you_ fork_ over that last soul, or I'll-"

"You'll what? Break the barrier and become a goddamn hero? Pfft, you've sacrificed too much of your own morality, _judge of the underground,_ and you know it." Ash growled, sneering as he added," with _her_ soul, I'll trigger a reset… bring everyone back… if I just had _one_ human soul-"

"Oh? You think your sins will be _forgiven_?" Jaws cracked a nasty smile, "I've seen that thing… floating around your head. I can almost hear its whispers. _What did you do to him, Ash_?"

Ash said nothing, but the threatening magic pouring from his skull intensified, his sins crawling on his back.

They were bristling, their fingers itching, their maws slit with snarling anger, tension rising-

A pained, hollow moan interrupted them both. And almost _instantly, they could both smell it._

Spicy, sweet, like roses and mountain laurels. Jaws felt thick drool gather in his mouth, as he scented the air, hearing Ash do the same.

The woman groaned again, rubbing at her face and hissing.

Jaws teleported to her, before Ash could come to his senses, bending over her and inhaling deeply, leaning from her neck and down to her crotch.

Cold, dull lazuli tinted drool dripped like icy pearls from his mandible, leaking through his teeth as he hoarsely groaned," Ah, god, I'm so _hungry_."

"A different hunger, am I right?" Ash had appeared next to him, magic outrage still pouring from his skull as he leaned in to sniff, keeping an eye on his growling, drooling rival.

“Stars, she smells so _good_… like a breath of _fresh_ air. Nothing like this hellhole.” he snarled, grinding his teeth as he felt his magic flare and pulse, already wound up from the salt Jaws had thrown on his wounds.

Jaws snarled,” She’s mine, I saw her first, “And Ash sneered, “I have an idea, buddy. Howza bout a truce? I’m too exhausted to fight you, and let’s just say that I don’t want to risk us breaking her soul, before either of us has a chance to use it. What say we… sate our hunger, before continuing our little discussion?”

Jaws snarled, but the smell grew stronger, overcoming their quarrel and now, they could hear the woman murmuring, “Oh, it hurts, it hurts….”

Her eyes opened, hazel and hazy, as her hand snuck to her abdomen, painful cramps seizing her.

And she blinked, freezing at the sight of the terrifying monsters standing in uncomfortably close proximity before her.

So… she _hadn’t_ gotten away… she hadn’t died either.

“Hello, little snack.” The one with the crack in his skull grinned, and she shuddered at the sight of his tongue, icy blue with reddened streaks of pink glimmering incandescently in his… god how was it that a skeleton could drool and even have a tongue?

“Hey, lil’ Rabbit… we uh, seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.” the other skeleton smirked, his teeth pulled into a smile that looked painful. “How’sa bout an introduction? I’m Ash. This drooling geek is Jaws.”

For some reason, she couldn’t stand to stare into Ash’s eyes too long… something hurt, it _hurt_ so much, there, in those heterochromia sockets that gazed at her in strange, bewildered hunger.

She gasped, as the one with the jagged crack, Jaws, in a totally intrusive move, bent his head to her bared pelvis and INHALED loudly.

The feeling of his breath sucking in the air around her and then exhaling forcefully, somehow hot and cold, caused her muscles to bunch involuntarily, and red spilled from between her legs, dripping down her thighs. She gasped and whimpered, squeezing her thighs together, _Oh no, please, not now!_

“... You’re on your blood cycle.” Ash spoke, in sudden understanding. She almost cringed at those words, shaking and shuddering as something about his look changed. Something about the _air _had changed. 

They no longer seemed to have an interest in _harming_ her… no, both of them had cracked their maws open, their tongues lolling as they both panted and glared at her, with _ravenous_ expressions.

She flinched as Ash reached for her, shuddering as his hand brushed her cheek softly.

“So long’s you don’t struggle, little Rabbit, we won’t hurt you… much.” he snickered.

Jaws growled, getting up on the table, he forced her legs apart.

She felt panic bubble inside of her, unsure of his intentions as she squeaked, “No, no, no-OH~!” She moaned, as he hooked his arms under her hips and pulled her forcefully to his body, spreading her legs and hoisting them over his shoulders, he snuffled the apex of her legs before his long, tapered lazuli tongue dropped from his mouth.

She squealed, very loudly, as his tongue slicked hotly along her folds and he groaned deeply, “Oh STARS, you’re tasty,” and he began to slurp at her, lewdly and loudly. She squirmed under his grasp, as his tongue brushed her opening and then dipped in, massaging her sore walls pleasantly, setting every sensitive nerve on fire.

Ash groaned as the very visceral noises filled the room, setting his magic ablaze. He got on the other end of the table, on his hands and knees, he looked into the terrified gaze of the woman who was writhing and panting, her face twisted with equal parts fear and euphoria.

“Stars, you’re lovely when you’re afraid,” He murmured, caressing her face before he ducked down to explore her mouth, laving his tongue over her lips before forcing it into her mouth, savoring her sweet taste.

She moaned, opening her mouth reluctantly, as she tasted him, a wild tang on his breath, a hint of regret and sorrow, mixed with desire and a flame that wouldn’t die.

She didn’t miss the fact that she was very much naked. Jaws had nearly captured her, more than once, and every time, she had managed to escape his clutches, but had lost one article of clothing after another. She had almost thought he was doing it on purpose, stripping away her defenses, however small they were.

And now, she lay here, bared to their wicked gazes, a morsel for their carnal lust… but as she kissed the criminal above her and squirmed under the lavishing attentions of the one at her apex, she forgot her fear, reveling in their warmth, moaning as her aches began to soothe and disperse, replaced by a building intensity within her very core. Her toes curled and she squeezed her legs over Jaw’s neck, as intense pleasure rocked her at her foundations.

“Oh baby.” Jaws growled lowly, his mandible reddened and slicked with her fluids, “I haven’t eaten so well in some time… I_ need_ more.”

“Don’t you even think it, geek.” Ash snarled, baring his teeth, “She’s mine.”

“Fuck off, murderer.” Jaws growled, “ I’m not gonna _hurt_ her. I’m gonna make her cum… gonna make her scream, but only in the most _exquisite_ of ways.”

And he went back to her folds, causing her to scream into Ash's mouth, as he delved into her opening, thumbing her sensitive clit.

Ash snarled into her mouth, his ecto-plasma swirling at his pelvis, forming and hardening, begging for attention.

She arched her back off the table as her end came to her, her fluids gushing, her cries muffled by Ash's overpowering tongue.

Jaws drank her up greedily, his iris blown wide and his Cheshire grin hitching as her scent increased, that same sweet, delicious scent of roses and mountain laurels.

“Oh Sweetness~” he groaned gutturally, drawing back from her as she moaned into Ash’s mouth.

Ash drew back from her mouth, looking into her now euphoric expression.

“Not so scared anymore, Little Rabbit?” Ash whispered quietly, his manic smile widening, “maybe you can do me a favor. I mean, it’d be a favor to you too, if you’re hungry.”

She licked her lips, as she caught sight of the violet ectoplasma, streaked with cerulean and magenta magic that was straining at his pelvis, pointing right at her.

“Whadd’ya say, Rabbit?”

“... I have a name.” she whispered hoarsely, “It’s Rose.”

Ash’s grin stretched.

“Well, then, _Rose_. Why don’t you come and get some... sustenance?”

She blinked warily, gasping and looking down wildly at Jaws as he shrugged her legs off his shoulders and began to flip her onto her belly.

“You’d best do what he says, morsel.” Jaws growled as he thumbed her entrance, groaning softly at how tight she felt over his phalanges. She quivered, supporting herself on her elbows; she looked up at the large member that hung inches from her mouth.

She parted her lips and licked the tip, looking up at the manic grin that shone down at her.

“Come on, Rosy, I know you’ve got more life in you than that.” Ash grunted, grabbing her by her hair.

She moaned and trembled, as she felt pressure at her other entrance, her pussy entrance stroked and rubbed by what she could only assume was another cock.

If this situation weren’t so terrifying, she’d almost laugh at the thought of skeletons having dicks. 

As it was, she opened her mouth wider and felt Ash push himself into her inviting mouth, grunting softly as she began sucking and slurping along his length.

_SHE FEELS GOOD, DOESN’T SHE?_

“Go away, Vapor.” Ash snapped angrily.

Jaws looked up from Rose’s ass, quirking a brow, “You ok, there, murderer?”

“Shut up, geek.” Ash hissed, as his grip in her hair tightened and he began a steady pace, careful to let her breath while groaning at the intensity of his pleasure. Her scent was permeating his senses, the soft sensations of her hair on his phalanges anchoring and grounding him somehow. He felt… that he could forget… that he could wrap himself up in her…

Her chest tightened, and her walls clenched, as Jaws inched his way in, groaning at the feeling of her silk wrapping around him, her warmth reminding him of times passed.

“Oh f_uck_.” Jaws grunted as he hilted inside of her.

Ash groaned as her throat opened and constricted around him, in reaction to the feeling of Jaws' entire length resting inside of her, and Ash began to set a more brutal pace, groaning as he felt the drool drip from her lips, her teeth grazing him as she choked.

“Ah! GOD!” he snarled, the intensity of his pleasure sinking into him. His end hit him, so hard he felt that he might pass out.

As she choked and coughed, the fluids gushing from her abused mouth, Jaws smirked, “That was pretty messy. Didn’t your mother teach you not to waste food?”

“F-fuck you.” she panted hoarsely, as she swallowed and then, she threw her head back and screamed, as he impaled her roughly, snarling, “As you wish.”

Ash stared down at her mouth as she panted and cried out, her skin flushed, and her tongue lolling, as her body hitched in a back and forth motion, with each thrust Jaws gave, grinding his teeth and snarling deeply, “Ah FUCK!”

“A-Ash… hnnng, Jaws.” she groaned, “P-please!”

Ash froze. Jaws was too far gone to hear her, gripping her hips, bruising her as he sawed his length deep inside at a desperate pace.

Ash bent, to meet her gaze, cupping her chin with one hand and palming his still straining magic in the other, he grunted, “What was that, my sweet Rose-bud?”

“P-please… I… I need more.” she whined, tearing and blushing in shame. She had woken up in such pain, she had always had terrible cramps… but now, it was like her pain had been erased, and her entire body was glowing with heat and warmth, her muscles bunching and relaxing as she was fucked into the table.

Ash frowned in surprise, reaching to wipe her tears with skilled, articulate phalanges, he smirked, “Don’t you worry; I’ll _give_ you more.”

Jaws groaned deeply, before throwing his head back and roaring, the sound echoing through the lab as he came inside her, his magic bursting and gushing, mixing and pooling in a hazy mess of red and lazuli.

She quivered and shook, as he slumped forward, her skin goose bumping as he licked her shoulder with his long, tapered tongue.

“Hnng…. _So good, morsel.”_ he growled deeply.

Ash reached under her arms and pulled her close, setting her into his lap. Face to face, he jousted his still hard length into her dripping, quivering entrance, groaning in utter pleasure as she squeezed him, her face wrenching in desire.

“P-please.” she begged, panting and pleading, “Please, I need it.”

Jaws watched as his counterpart took a turn, his ribcage heaving and the wheels of his mind turning, as she began to bounce in his lap, moaning lasciviously. Her scent was everywhere and it wreaked havoc on his brain.

Her body was so pure, her skin so soft, that hair, spilling and waving over her shoulder like chestnut fire. The wholesome smell brought him back, back to better days… hopeful days…

_Gazing at the star stones in waterfall, making wishes and whispering to flowers in the marsh…._

Jaws didn't even realize that he'd crept back to her, burying his face in her hair and huffing in her essence.

"Please…" he whimpered in his rasping voice, his phalanges creeping over her shoulders, ignoring Ash, as he held onto that… god… that _purity_ that was pouring off her in waves was intoxicating and he clung to her, his ecto-plasma pressing into her back with straining need as he felt her jerk and sway in Ash's lap.

Ash snarled at the proximity of Jaws, growling, "Fuck off, Geek."

Jaws hissed, his pupil narrowing, but he did nothing, as he stared his duplicate down.

Ash groaned as her walls tightened almost painfully around him, her cries escalating with desperate tones.

He leaned to her right, rasping in her ear.

"Say my name."

"Ash…" she whined, her skin prickling as she felt a tongue lave the left side of her neck, a raw voice hoarsely groaning and whining.

She was crying out, her head thrown back, her body on fire, as a pair of hands gripped her ass and another pair grasped roughly at her heavy tits. 

Rose felt herself come undone, and as her pleasure peaked, a rush of pain filled her, as both skeletons bit down on her shoulders, Ash to the right, and Jaws to the left, leaving clear, fresh punctures in her skin.

She trembled, her body spent, now warm and exhausted.

She slumped forward, and felt herself drift. 

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

Jaws glared at Ash. Ash did the same. They had both marked her and neither was happy with the other.

"... She's mine."

"The _hell _she is, I caught her."

"I found her first."

She was wrapped in Jaw’s hoodie, lying in his bed upstairs, as Ash and Jaws glared at each other from across the room.

“...She’s not gonna last long here, and you know it, Geek.”

Jaws snapped his teeth, hissing at his duplicate.

“You know..._damn well_… that I have _never_ tasted human flesh… except what I ate tonight.” he smirked, making a show of licking his teeth.

Ash snarled, he was still rather furious that he hadn’t had a chance to taste her himself. They’d agreed to let her sleep, to recover her HP, which, to their surprise, hadn’t been nearly as low as they’d thought.

In fact… they’d discovered some rather interesting things about her.

Her soul was extremely unusual. It was light in coloration, shimmering like a diamond. It radiated… a purity they had never encountered before.

Both Ash and Jaws were attracted to that soul… and they knew, as much as they wanted to, they couldn’t use her soul. 

As lovely and strong as it was… it was cracked. It was a miracle it was holding together.

“Where d’ya think she came from?” Ash murmured, frowning as he slumped against the wall.

Jaws looked at him with a bored expression.

“They all come from the surface, Murderer.”

Ash sneered, “Oh fuck’s sake, I know THAT, geek.”

Jaws clenched his teeth.

“You call me that… _one_ more time-”

Ash vanished, as the front door opened and Jaws looked up at his brother, grinning slightly.

“S’up, Bro?”

“YOU KNOW “WHAT’S UP”, BROTHER!” 

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Ash knelt beside the woman, trailing a phalange tiredly over her cheekbone, gazing into her chest, where her soul was nestled.

“Who hurt you? Why were you down here, little white Rose?”

He felt many things, gazing at her tired, beautiful face.

“As much as I wanna get out of here… I can’t use you. I won’t.”

He set his teeth, snarling, “And I won’t let THEM use you either. I promise.”


	2. Something Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finds herself making one mistake right after another.  
It's not easy being cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for NON-CON/ATTEMPTED RAPE
> 
> Gyftrot is a scary motherfucker
> 
> Death occurs in this chapter. Mind the tags.

Rose felt consciousness leaking back into her mind slowly. The first thing she noticed was that her whole body was sore… but in a warm, pleasant way, rather than the cold, agonizing soreness that usually accompanied her monthly.

There was a tingling inside of her, both pleasant and weird. She shifted, her abdomen reminding her that she was on her cycle… and yet, her cramps were non-existent, and there was a pleasant heat swelling within her.

The second thing she noticed was that it was eerily quiet. Even the howling wind outside seemed distant.

“What is this?” she murmured, her green and amber hazel eyes taking in her environment with trepidation. She didn’t feel the same fear, as her body slowly responded to her commands and she blinked at the room she was in.

It was a total mess... and there was a treadmill, of all things, right in the middle.

She shifted, finally realizing that she was dressed in a jacket…-she froze, as she realized it was _ his _ jacket.

The _ skeleton _ with the jagged crack in his skull… Oh god.

The _ event _ came back her, stealing her breath and leaving her speechless, fragmented memories of their glowing sockets and loose tongues plaguing her with confusion and terror.

She’d _ fucked _ them. They’d _ fucked _ her.

They had _ marked _ her, _ claimed _ her, burying themselves deep within her and had sown their wicked seed inside her womb.

…

_ And she had liked it. _

When she woke that first time, in that strange room on the cold, icy table, she’d been in unbearable pain, her body stripped bare and her bowels plagued with the curse of blood.

Rose’s body had _ cried _ for comfort, for relief, <strike>for love</strike> and they’d _ given _ it… had she given something to them in return? Before they’d caught her, they had _ both _ acted, and spoke as though they had intended ill towards her…

But what they’d done was… well, confusing. And she didn’t even feel like trying to unravel the mysteries there… especially since she felt herself heating up with the memory of a pair of skeletal hands grasping her thighs, and a second pair gripping achingly at her breasts.

With a shudder, she felt pain at her shoulders, reaching to feel scars that were embedded there… how’d their bites heal so quickly?

“C’mon, Rose… you’ve got to get out of here.”

She murmured to herself, feeling very tired, so ready to break down and cry, with her face in her hands and a heavy numb feeling in her chest.

She couldn’t even really tell whether they had raped her. She doubted they would have _ stopped _ if she had asked… but… she had _ begged _ them. She had _ wanted them. _

She needed the relief, and like a whore, she had cried out for them, arching into their touches, greedily taking their cocks into her body, begging and pleading as they used her to slake their appetites.

<strike> _Oh god… was she really such a perverted sinner, the way her stepfather had said?_ </strike>

She couldn’t breath. Her chest was constricting, the rawness inside refusing to let her take a breath, as she hugged herself, her mind trapped in the cycle as dry sobs wracked her, a low whining breaking the frigid air around her.

Her eyes glazed over, her body felt worthless, coarse and raw, her throat constricted and her tongue unbearably dry. The accusations… the _ very thought _ that she would be like her mother, miserable, tired, _<strike> hopeless, faceless shell</strike>\- _

A whining sob broke the silence. Her lungs heaved painfully as she finally sucked in the stale air, trembling and curling in on herself.

She just wanted to feel _ok_ again…

But the numbness spread like electricity through water and her feet moved on their own as she crept from the bed, leaving the blue jacket behind, as though it would devour her if she stayed inside of it any longer, her skin itching with its absence.

There was a window, and she crept towards it, careful to not make a sound. Peering, she saw that there was a shed, just outside…

She _ could _ make that jump. It would hurt, and if she missed, she would die… but better to die on her own terms then to be trapped here with her ghosts, their ghoulish smiles ripping her to pieces as they pointed accusing fingers at her.

Shuddering, she ignored the fact that she was dressed in clothes that didn’t belong to her, her own clothing long gone, and grunted, throwing open the window with as much strength as she could muster.

The sharp air almost knocked her backwards, but she bent forward, uncaring of her own safety anymore. It was do or die.

And she wanted to live, as long as possible.

_ I can’t stay here. _

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

"So what now, Geek?" Ash growled, as he sat with Jaws in the lab. They were both staring at the ruined machine and Jaws took a moment to scratch at his empty socket, absent in thought.

"... We have to wait for another human." He finally grumbled.

"That'll TAKE too long!" Ash barked, his deep voice hissing through the air.

Jaws tilted his head back, his red pupil sliding around to glance at Ash, without turning towards him.

"_ Fuck you, _ if you think I'm happy down here. But unless you've got any _ better _ ideas, _ Ash, _ that's our only option."

Ash flinched. It was true; he'd _ allowed _ Jaws to call him by a different name. They were alternates of the same monster, Comic Sans Gaster… but they couldn't say they were _ that _ person anymore.

Of course, he _ chose _ a name that was just as distasteful to the other him, reminding the scarred skeleton of all his sins and the murders he’d committed

“You got a point… but I refuse to give up.” Ash growled, “There’s gotta be something we’re _ missing.” _

“Well, buddy, if you have an _ extra _ soul around-“

There was a loud sound, from above. Ash and Jaws jumped at the sudden disturbance, their pupils dilated before it came to them.

The human had woken. And contrary to their agreed theory, she apparently had the energy to _ run _.

Jaws growled as he threw himself headlong into the void, shortcutting right next to the shed.

Ash warped right next to him, snarling, “The hell did she go?!”

They could see her footprints, dragging in the snow.

“…FUCK.” Jaws growled, “She’s heading for the cave…”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Rose struggled, her body numb and her movements driven by pure desperation. She had to get back to her hideaway. They still didn’t know where it was. stifling her whimpers and trying to restrain her sounds, she forced her heavy limbs to move, desperately trying to get away, her emotions and heart in utter turmoil as she fought her way through the snow, hoping that she would find her refuge.

She could hide there, maybe survive the night, come up with a plan-

All thoughts and motion froze within her, as she met the crazed, starving eyes of the former Gyftrot, staring at her from the dark.

The giant, elk-like monster was frozen, standing so still she would have missed him, if not for the breath that huffed in front of his mouth like icy fire. His yellowed eyes with blood-shot-irises glared at her. Rose could tell in an instant that it was intelligent but driven mad by hunger. She didn’t stare into those eyes too long, because her attention was drawn to the sharp, elongated mandibles that made up its terrifying maw.

A scratchy whine piped in her ears without making a sound, as a hoarse, scream of a whisper licked at the edges of her mind.

<strike>_ “…FOOD…BLOOD… _ MATE _ …” _.</strike>

Rose could hear it’s voice in her head, and terror flooded her with adrenaline.

She had to run. SHE HAD TO RUN-

-The snow bit and chomped at her, as she tried to get away from the beast, but before she could get far, its growls were on her back, hot breath scalding her ear.

With a desperation that lent her fluidity, she pulled her body tightly into a dip in the snow, coming to a sudden stop.

Gyftrot overshot his target, stumbling forward. His massive head swung towards her, but she was flying back the way she had come, using the tracks Gryftrot left to navigate the snow.

Her feet flew, faster then she’d ever run, pushing her through the air at a terrifying rate-

She screamed, as she was blindsided, flung precariously into the snow and knocked into the trunk of a tree.

Pain and numbness wracked her, as she felt unable to breath, her body wracked with spasms, fighting for the need for air as her mouth parted with a gasp, like a fish out of water.

_ The fish don't find it funny when they fall for the hook, line and sinker. _

Rose wanted to laugh and cry at that thought, as she blinked and tried to breath, still stunned.

That whispering, slithery voice that emanated from the terrifying elk-like monster hushed over her mind, and she could hear the thing that had rammed into her, a separate entity with a physical voice, panting over her.

“Ah, what a nice doggy treat I found. I’ve been a _ good _ boy, I can allow myself the indulgence…”

Rose whimpered, as she was finally able to take a sharp, stabbing breath.

“Fuck off Gyftrot,_ I _ caught her.” The new voice growled. It sounded like a dog, or a wolf, talking with a Bronx accent.

There actually _ was _ a physical vibration then, an _ unearthly _ howl and that echoed mournfully, giving Rose the worst feeling of isolation and despair… feelings she was well familiar with.

“Someone help me.” She whispered, as blackness crawled along her vision, her chest heaving as she tried to stay awake.

“Please… don’t let me die alone…”

Doggo was growling, his hackles raised, his claws elongated and glimmering like daggers.

Gyftrot was silent and it was _ obvious _ what he wanted from the prone, struggling human woman.

Doggo snarled loudly, poised for attack, “SHE’S MINE.”

<strike>“…</strike>_<strike> NO…”</strike> _ was Gyftrot’s calm, passive response, his bloody eyes unblinking and his mandibles quivering and shining slick with copious amounts of saliva.

The need to eat, the need to _ breed _ and the scent of sweet roses and wild mountain laurels was thick in the air. Both male monsters circled in dominance, Doggo snarling loudly and furiously, slobbering with two kinds of starvation as he shifted, ready to attack the giant Elk-like creature.

Doggo waited patiently, as Gyftrot made his move, summoning magical, icy particles, sharpened into points and hurling them towards Doggo. As soon as Gyftrot made his move, Doggo snapped, sending his daggers flying expertly as he dodged the ice particles and managed to hit Gyftrot right in one of his many eyes. The elk hissed with pain, his remaining eyes narrowing, he snapped his attention behind his shoulder and loped away. 

"That's right, you better run!" Doggo snarled, chuckling as he turned his hungry attention to Rose, who was struggling to her feet, her ribs bruised.

The movement set him off, and he was on her in a mere second, ripping away her clothes and uncaring as to whose scent covered her.

Rose cried out in pain as she was forcefully pushed into the ground, sobbing and weeping, "please, no, no, leave me alone!"

Doggo snarled impatiently, sneering, "Don't you fucking tell me what to do! Now hold still, sweetie... You’re gonna feel _ so _ good on my cock…"

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

Jaws snapped his skull around as he took in the scents from the air, his pupil dilated, as he raced through the forest, warping through the void in leaps and bounds as he popped in and out of existence like a twisted ghost within the darkened, snowy forest.

Ash was right there with him, their calculated jumps taking them further then they’d thought she’d be able to run, as they stopped periodically to check the air for the scent of her blood and that delectable fragrance of roses and mountain laurels. It was a _ miracle _ she hadn’t _ fallen _ into any of Rake’s traps-

_ She has a den. She’s trying to head back to it. _

Jaws took a moment to be impressed. She’d learned the layout of the forest so quickly. He knew that she had a little nest, hidden somewhere and he had _ hoped _ to flush her from it, but then Ash had interrupted his hunting-

A strong, unearthly scent knocked his teeth loose, his eye light engulfing the darkness of his skull, as he _ recognized _ that scent, giving a painfully tight grip on his hatchet that made his bones creak.

He shouldn't have been surprised. Of course she would choose to make her den near The Cave.

“_ Gyftrot _.” He growled, his teeth leaking with hatred.

The old, equine monster was _ still _ around… just _ great _ . This was gonna get messy…but it would get even _ messier _ if they _ were too late _.

With this in mind, he recklessly catapulted himself forward, his magic sending him hurtling through the air, and he whirled his arms in a windmill motion for balance as gravity yanked him down to the earth.

Before he crashed into the snow, Jaws summoned a Blaster and landed skillfully atop the Void Beast.

The starving skeleton’s eye dripped and smoked with mulberry wine-colored magic and he ground his teeth painfully at the sight before him.

_ Doggo _was there, the tiny little human struggling underneath his lanky, famished frame, poised to impale Rose on his throbbing length.

With a soundless snarl, Jaws threw a horde of bones, but the feral mutt rolled away, allowing the bone attack to sink harmlessly into the trees and ground behind him.

"Get. Off. Her." Jaws bit out, snapping his mandible in a harshly audible manner, as Doggo held her up in his claws with a smirk. Rose was whimpering, her teeth chattering her hazel eyes staring back at Jaws with anguished regret.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” she whimpered, her voice choking as blood ran down her legs.

"Seems I caught this one fair and square, _ Sansy _. Wanna back the fuck off so I can eat in peace? I think I've earned it, considering everything my pack and I have done for you and Papyrus." Doggo sneered.

He was shocked when Jaws' AU duplicate, Ash, warped right next to him, slicing his paw neatly through with a razor sharp bone while taking Rose in his arm, warping back with Jaws.

Doggo howled, long and loudly into the air, the sound echoing and giving a strange reverb that didn't sit well.

Jaws snarled as his eye socket flared with an outpouring of magical energy.

"Get her out of here, Ash. We’re about to have fucking company.”

Ash growled, “What about _ you _?”

Jaws snorted.

“I can handle these guys. I know ‘em. You _ obviously _ don’t, since you went and _ wounded _ Doggo, rather than just _ killing _ him, Murderer. He called the whole pack. Now _ get her out of here before they catch her scent, or they’ll fucking hunt her down. _”

Ash warped away without another word, taking a sobbing, half faint Rose with him and Jaws snickered softly, shifting his pelvis, he leaned back as he put his hatchet over his shoulders.

He took his time as he smirked at Doggo, who was panting and growling with pain, as dust began to leak like gray falling snow from his severed wrist.

“Looks like ya _ need a hand, _ buddy.” Jaws snickered cruelly, as he walked towards the quivering wolf.

The dog monster watched his movements with anguished wrath.

“They’re comin’ for ya, Sansy. An’ they’re gonna rip ya and ya _ brother _ ta _ shreds.” _ Doggo snarled.

Jaws shrugged carelessly, his eye-light shrinking and his smile growing like a threat.

“Or.”

His manic smile almost cracked his skull in two, as he carelessly lifted his hand, raising bones from the ground to pin Doggo to the earth.

The mutt screeched in pain, struggling and whimpering, choking on his own dust.

Sans used his gravity magic and removed the snow that Rose had bled into, shoveling it into Doggo’s mouth, he forced the mutt to eat it, laughing softly, “Oh-ho, buddy…they’ll see _ you _ , weak an’ _ wounded, blood on your chops that you didn’t share with them _ … and they’ll tear _ ya _ into _ dust _.”

Doggo choked and sobbed, quivering and trying to beg, “Please, please no-“

Jaws warped away, and watched from the safety of the trees as the other four dogs appeared, Greater, Lesser, and the Dog Marriage.

Doggo whined, his teeth bared, as he realized the danger he was in. He couldn’t move, he was pinned down, a perfect meal.

Greater whined gruffly, his stomach rumbling loudly and Lesser panted and gave a keening, mournful noise, his sunken eyes gleaming voraciously.

Dogamy and Dogaressa snarled in sync, their ribs showing through their fur and their stomachs taut against their bodies.

_ “Human… blood… SHARE, _ SHARE _ , _ ** _S H A R E._ ** _ ” _

Doggo snarled, struggling and growling as they descended on him.

Jaws smirked as he sat back, Doggo’s screams echoing through the forest. He felt exhausted from all the warping he had done, and while he watched the dust fly down below, he gave a soft snort, his breath huffing like a cold mist in the air.

“Ya should have let her go, buddy.”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

_ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” _ Rose was whimpering as her chest constricted painfully and Ash finally growled out, “Rabbit, shut the hell up. What’s done is done. Now be silent, before you draw _ more _monsters in.”

She stopped whispering, but she moaned painfully, lacking the strength to struggle, her limbs just about frozen from the cold.

“Ya dumb _ idiot _, why’d ya take off his coat?” Ash grumbled, pausing in his trek, he took off his own jacket and wrapped it around her. “Don’t fucking take it off this time, unless ya wanna freeze.”

_ HOW SWEET, DEAR BROTHER. YOU WOULD SACRIFICE YOUR BELOVED JACKET FOR A HUMAN YOU RAPED? _

“Shut up, asshole.” Ash snarled.

Rose whimpered and he blinked in surprise, remembering that the stupid voice in his head couldn’t be heard by anyone else.

He said nothing about it to her, however, as he trudged through the snow, grumbling under his breath and looking for the house.

The skeleton grunted with effort. He’d made a HUGE leap, away from the mess, and now, as he huffed, carrying the tiny human in his arms, he paused,_ feeling _ rapacious eyes on his back.

“Buddy, you’d best _ turn _ around and walk _ away _.” Ash growled softly, coolly looking over his shoulder as his eyes began to flare with cyan and crimson magic.

It was Gyftrot. Ash hadn’t dealt with _ this _ monster, here in this timeline. He remembered killing his own timeline’s Gyftrot all too well. The beast had been gentle, a loner and a shy monster. It had been a hard kill, his conscience pricking him… but after Papyrus, he couldn’t bring himself to feel much.

Now, as he stared aloofly at the gaunt and terrifying alternate of the gentle giant, his SOUL crawled painfully.

His grip on the human tightened and his mandible clicked as he snarled, “I mean it. Beat it, asshole.”

Gyftrot seemed to move without sound, his eyes focused with a strange, haunting certainty.

Ash shivered.

_ YOU’D BEST _ RUN _ , BROTHER. YOU ARE IN _ NO _ POSITION TO FIGHT THIS BEAST. _

“Shut up PAPYRUS!” Ash bellowed, whirling around to snap at the voice that he could _ swear _was right behind him.

That was when Gyftrot made his move, and Rose screamed, as the beast crossed the space between them within the blink of an eye, impossibly fast for its size.

The human was plucked from Ash’s arms and a colossal antler smashed into his torso, knocking him off his feet and slamming him into a tree.

He crumpled to the ground, coughing and growling as he drew himself back up, his sockets blazing and leaking like blood and ice water, as he leapt to his feet, summoning a blaster, he pointed it right at Gyftrot, speaking in a guttural tone, “ You’d best put her down, unless ya wanna have a ** _bad time_ **.”

The monster seemed to smile thinly, even though it had no mouth; its slavering mandibles quivering as it stared at him a clearly bored manner.

Ash was getting pissed off. He knew he fucked up.

_ Just like every other time before. Great going, numbskull _

Ash made eye contact with Rose, who quivered and sobbed. She was curled in on herself, and he took a sharp breath as her blood flowed fresh again, the scent overwhelmingly sweet and delectable.

<strike>“_ HUNGER…. MATE….BREED…_</strike>_” _ Gyftrot snarled as he snapped his attention towards the human.

Without thinking, Ash mustered the reserves of his magic and warped, using his momentum, he threw himself forward before grabbing Rose in his arms; he warped again, his SOUL shaking with the effort.

They landed in the tree behind Gyftrot. Rose shivered, clinging to Ash like he was last life vest on a sinking ship.

Ash glanced down at her, as she trembled with cold, her limbs practically frozen, and he cursed under his breath.

He wished he had taken slower jumps, instead of trying to go all the way. Now his magic was depleted, and there was a very hungry, very persistent monster below them.

This Gyftrot was a different beast from the one in his timeline, and Ash actually felt nervous, as he cradled the human woman in his arms.

Her soul was thudding dully in her body, weak from the cold.

However, as Gyftrot made a move towards the tree, his body was suddenly impaled by light blue and orange tinted bones, which pinned the monster neatly to the ground.

Ash groaned. He knew that attack.

“BROTHER! WHERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU HAVE A HUMAN, I CAN SMELL HER!”

Ash muttered angrily as Rose squealed in surprise at the clattering voice that echoed through the woods.

There was no avoiding it.

He slowly stood and leapt heavily from branch to branch. God, he could use a fucking nap.

“YOU.” The voice turned hostile.

Ash grumbled, “Hello, Rake. S'up?”

“WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”

This skeleton was very clearly different from the brother Ash had known. He was much taller, his spine curving unnaturally and his teeth crooked.

Ash felt his SOUL twist painfully at the sight. It hurt so much, to see this Papyrus.

He was grateful that Jaws had forbidden him from using their real names, choosing the name Rake, since this Pap stood so tall and thin, his phalanges splayed like terrifying claws.

The different name didn’t make it easier, but Ash was able to ignore the likeness more easily.

“WHERE IS SANS!? ANSWER ME FIEND, OR YOU’LL SUFFER MY WRATH!”

Ash shrugged, “I actually don’t know where he is. She escaped and was about to get… devoured… by Doggo. Jaws told me to take her and run.”

Rakes snorted.

“AND YOU FOOLISHLY ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF GYFTROT. YOU _ KNOW _ HE DOESN’T _ STAY _ DEAD, CORRECT?”

Ash’s eyes widened.

“I’m sorry, come again?”

Rake groaned.

“THOSE BONES WILL HOLD HIM A WHILE YET. LET’S GET HER BACK TO THE HOUSE BEFORE HE GETS LOOSE. I ASSUME YOU USED ALL YOUR MAGIC?”

“… Maybe.”

Rake shook his head in disgust.

“YOU BETTER NOT HAVE _ RUINED _ANY OF MY PUZZLES AGAIN, OR I’LL GIVE YOU WHAT-FOR, YOU BUFFOON.”

8~8~8~8~8~8

Jaws finally got back to the house, and he grumbled at the sight of Rake, kneeling over the human, healing her by a fire.

She was shivering and gulping down a pan of melted snow greedily. Ash was sitting in a corner of the room, watching Rake with crazed eyes.

This was not really a situation he wanted to deal with. But then again, none of this was really anything that he wanted to live through.

“S’up, bro?”

Rake said nothing, just continued to focus his attention on the human.

“He’s mad at you.” Ash grumbled, to which Rake snapped, “YOU WILL NOT SPEAK FOR ME, IMBECILE.”

Rake grumbled before standing to his feet, leaving the human, who shivered and drew herself into a tighter knot.

The tall, crooked skeleton frowned at his brother.

“…WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS HUMAN, SANS?”

Jaws shuffled anxiously.

He hated when Rake was upset with him. It wasn’t often, but these days, it was harder, and harder for Rake to keep his positive outlook on things.

Jaws hated that. He hated how much his brother had changed. He hated how Rake was changing. Jaws felt like _ such a failure, such a fucking failure, I failed him, I failed them, I failed everyone- _

“Why did you save me?”

That quiet whisper broke the unbearable silence.

Rake looked down at her in surprise and Ash inched closer, his phalanges itching with the need to touch the small human, who was looking at them far more clearly than she had before.

“… Your soul is very important to us.” Jaws yawned, scratching his sternum as he eyed her with his single, bloodshot eye-light.

“It’s a treasure.” Ash broke in, snapping slightly. “Our ticket out of this hell.”

She clutched her chest, her cheeks flushed as she raised a brow.

“Then why… why did you use my body?” she asked frankly.

“… Last I checked you weren’t exactly tellin’ us _ no _ , sweetheart.” Ash chuckled, as he raked his eyes over her flesh, her intoxicating scent entrancing his senses. Stars, she _ looked so good _ in his jacket… and she smelled _ so very tantalizing- _

“I was in pain. The both of you… took the pain away.” She mumbled, flushing, “It… felt good.” She flushed harder and shivered.

Jaws looked at the blood running through her cheeks with spellbound sockets, his tongue feeling thick, stars, he was _ so hungry, and he could smell her blood- _

“SANS! IMBECILE! NOW IS _ NOT _ THE TIME! STOP ACTING LIKE WILD BEASTS THIS INSTANT!” Rake’s harsh voice cut in, and Rose drew back on herself.

She had _ seen _ the look in their faces and shivered. Although she wasn’t exactly opposed to… more of what happened in the basement, as her stomach ached and her womb quivered, she wasn’t sure she wanted them both again, the way they-

Her eyes went down to the floor and she knew she was lying to herself. Shame flooded her.

_ Harlot. Whore. Slut. Tramp. _

“-AND _ FURTHERMORE _ , NOW _ GYFTROT _ HAS HER SCENT! HE WILL BE COMING FOR HER!”

Rake snarled angrily as he stood to his full height, his sockets glaring accusingly at both Jaws and Ash.

“YOU’RE BOTH HOPELESS NUMBSKULLS! NOW THEN-“ he gestured to Rose-“ I HAVE HEALED HER BODY SUFFICIENTLY FOR NOW. HER SOUL IS STRANGE, AND I DON’T BELIEVE IT WILL PROVE USEFUL.”

Rake added with narrowed socket, “I COULD SMELL THE TWO OF YOU ON HER. YOU’RE _ BOTH _ REVOLTING. BUT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, FROM WHAT SHE EXPLAINED, I’LL EXCUSE YOUR PROMISCUOUS BEHAVIOR.”

“Gee, thanks bro.” Jaws muttered, scratching at his empty socket as he looked around Rake at the human, who gazed back, seeming more curious then scared.

He winked at her, lazily, feeling his magic twist with need as a gush of her blood flooded the room with her scent.

Ash inhaled sharply and hissed,” Rake, I hate to break it to ya… but she’s like a fuckin’ glow stick in the dark. How d’ya expect us ta keep to ourselves when she smells like that-“

“OH BELIEVE ME, I KNOW HOW SHE SMELLS.”

Jaws raised a brow, feeling conflicted at that, and Ash snarled, “You _ can’t _ have her-!”

“-**THAT** IS _ NOT _ CURRENTLY AN ISSUE, IMBECILE. HAVE SOME _ DECENCY _FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!” Rake’s voice rose into a whining snarl that immediately shut Ash up and set Jaws in agitation, as he watched his brother with his blood-red socket.

Rake sighed, putting a hand to his nasal bridge.

“HONESTLY, YOU IDIOTS ARE LIKE ADOLESCENTS DISCOVERING MATING GAMES FOR THE FIRST TIME. GIVING ME GRAY HAIR. NOW PAY ATTENTION! HER BLOOD SCENT IS STRONG, AND IF WE DON’T DO _ SOMETHING _ , SHE’LL START ATTRACTING ATTENTION. NOW, DO _ EITHER _OF YOU HAVE ANY BRIGHT IDEAS?”

“… We could keep her in my lab, bro.” Jaws replied easily, glancing over at Ash, “With a watch, to make sure she don’ run again.”

“I won’t.” she spoke up, sounding slightly bitter, even as she spoke with a quiet, reluctant voice, “I’m tired of running… and you obviously don’t plan to… to hurt me… at least not yet.”

Rake actually looked guilty, his ribs creaking as he replied, “I WON’T HARM YOU… THAT IS A PROMISE, LITTLE ONE.”

Rose gazed with startled eyes at the tall, gaunt skeleton and actually smiled up at him.

It was such a soft, reluctant smile, and she murmured, in a certain tone of voice, “Thank you... I believe you.”

Jaws’ teeth shifted, at those words and Ash took notice of the scintillating alteration that saturated the air.

There was something emanating from Rose.

An atmosphere that felt… serene… warm…

It was _ beautiful, _like the last damn bastion of purity in the underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love Rake/Horror Papyrus.


	3. Crab Apple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something bitter and sweet.
> 
> Ash and Jaws both try to sort their thoughts towards Rose, and she does the same.
> 
> Rake reveals that there may be a way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here there be SMUT. More period kink.

Rose tucked herself into the corner, gazing at the end of the room where Ash sat with his back to the wall and his hood over his face, apparently not watching her.

… Like she could really believe that.

She was wrapped in new clothes that Rake had provided her, as well as an absorbent cloth to tuck between her legs.

Rake had apologized regretfully about not being able to stop her bleeding, as it was her cycle, and she’d smiled faintly at his kindness, taken aback by how different he acted from the other two skeletons.

… Then again, she wasn’t sure that she felt the same way about Jaws and Ash that she had when she first became aware of them.

When she had fallen <strike>been thrown down</strike>, she’d immediately been hit with feelings of danger, of desperation and _famine_.

She’d escaped the ruins, running blindly through dusty tunnels; calling and pleading for help, yet encountering nothing and no one. Rose had stayed in the house, but vague whispers and the sounds of footsteps running up and down the halls had driven her away from the supposed safety of the house into the cold, dreary blizzard that she would come to know as Snowdin.

She shivered, remembering how she had found shelter, within an old cave, had hidden it away, neatly and cleverly, and had been mostly surviving off the snow itself.

Rose had not been thin, when she <strike>was thrown</strike> fell, but very quickly, her weight was dropping, her belly shrinking, as she struggled for survival.

The first time she saw _him_, it had been in a moment of complete silence. Her bare feet had crunched through the snow, and suddenly, she’d paused, at the utter emptiness she had felt, seeping into her skin and burning the back of her neck. Twitching and shivering with discomfort, she’d frozen in place like a startled deer, her eyes locked in on his dark figure.

Silent like empty space. Dark, gaunt features, as a single ruby orb focused on her face, a manic grin stretching thickly. Those teeth… warped in madness, in _hunger…_

She had started running before she fully realized what she was doing, breaking the silence with the snow crunching under her feet, and filling her lungs with the dead air, as she scrambled away from him.

The sound of hollow, croaking laughter followed her, along with a hoarse jeer, “See you around, little _snack.”_

For _weeks_, he’d hunted her, toying with her, and then… she’d realized. It wasn’t just one skeleton. There were _three_. And two of the skeletons looked startlingly similar to each other.

She came to see that there were dead giveaways between the two, one was cyclopean, gaunt and giant with a hatchet that he carried constantly and the other was a grinning maniac with heterochromia sockets.

Their voices were different as well and she shivered, remembering the first time she had heard Ash speak, his deep voice smooth like oil.

_“Run, little rabbit.”_

That whispered taunt had shivered through her, as she whipped around, to see empty air next to her. And run she had, slipping through the trees, her chestnut hair streaming behind her as her feet carried her.

She could hear thudding footsteps, hear a strange sound behind her, as he somehow continued to barely catch at the ends of her hair.

“I _just_ want your soul-“ An unsettling laugh that spurred her into dodging to the left, as she used every evasive maneuver she could.

Somehow, she escaped him, and after that, she stopped venturing out. For three days, she didn’t leave her burrow, shivering, starving and weeping.

Was this hell? The very hell that her stepfather had _promised _would come to her.

_No… I don’t want it to end like this… I don’t _want_ it to end like this._

On the verge of death, she finally left her burrow again, driven by the hunger in her belly and a strange pulsing in her bosom. Perhaps she could find something to fill her belly... perhaps she could slip by, unnoticed... 

Her hopes were dashed however, when the cyclopean giant had appeared like death himself. Hopelessness had sunk her, even as she fought to run. And that's when the other one had caught her.

Her heart had hammered, had pulsed, and when she’d dared to struggle against Ash, he’d knocked her clean out. Drifting, she thought that it was the end for her…

But then instead of- she shuddered- instead of dividing her flesh with his hatchet, Jaws had lavished her bleeding, aching core with greedy love. Instead of taking her soul and using it for his own purposes, Ash had kissed her, had stared deeply into her eyes as she had used his body to alleviate the pain in her own.

And now, as she huddled in the cold room, she felt so conflicted. The first two weeks here had been hell, and they had driven her near to starvation.

And yet…

They’d put themselves in harm’s way to keep her safe. Sure, it was most likely for selfish reason, <strike>_after all, who could ever love a whore like her,_</strike> but Rose felt… gratitude towards them.

Ash had even allowed her the use of his jacket, when she had been freezing. That was something he _hadn’t_ needed to do, and yet, he had done it.

Why were they keeping her alive? Ash had told her that she was important, and there had been some mention of her soul being of some value.

She snorted softly to herself. They had no idea. There _was_ no worth in her soul, no benevolence to be found.

_.._ <strike> _her house is a highway to the grave_ </strike> _.._

She squinted and shuddered, as those harsh, accusing words came back to bite her ears, her soul giving a painful ache as her stepfather’s voice grated against her soul.

“S’matter?”

She jolted at the sudden harsh whisper, meeting the burning, heterochromia gaze of Ash.

“Uh, n-nothing.” She cringed, shivering as he leaned forward and took a deep breath, exhaling gutturally.

“God, you smell amazing.” He murmured.

His eyes fixated on her shrewdly as he added, “ I can tell you’re stewin’ about somethin’.”

She looked away from him, steadfastly refusing to meet that gaze, where so much pain existed. She had never been this close to him without feeling threatened… but right now, she didn’t feel fear. That strange gratitude from before swirled in her bosom.

He snorted at her attitude, reaching out to firmly grip her chin with his phalanges, he forced her to look at him.

“Rake said _he_ wouldn’t touch ya… I never said I wouldn’_t_.” He smirked, emphasizing the ‘t’ as he clicked his teeth together and licked his maw, bending closer yet.

She was taken back by the sourness of his breath, acerbic and yet tantalizing, like a cranberry, or a grapefruit, and as he nuzzled her lips, Rose felt her shoulders tense with heat, her core crying out to be filled again.

“Stars, you’re like a _bitch in heat_, aren’t you?” Ash grunted in utter amazement, as Rose moaned softly.

She pulled back abruptly, her hazel eyes snapping.

“That’s n-not fair.”

“Sweetheart, the world isn’t _fair_.” Ash crossed his arms, eyeing her with mixed feelings.

_YOU KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT THE WORLD BEING UNFAIR, DON’T YOU?_

“_Shut up.”_ Ash snapped at the vapor of his former brother, forgetting again, that he was the only one who could hear that loud whisper.

He was caught off guard when Rose cowered away, her eyes wide and her lips parted with terror.

“I-I’m sorry.” her voice was barely audible.

Ash squinted at her in frustration. That voice, so similar to Papyrus, was only getting louder, and more like his dead brother with every day that passed and he growled in self-reproach.

"Wasn't you..." he heard himself mutter, "I just... I don't belong here, and I feel it rubbing off on me, every day that passes. M'so fucking _tired_ of this place."

"I know the feeling." she murmured, and to his surprise, she reached out to him, her pale hands gentle as she gently grasp at his arm. "I... I have never felt like... like I belonged anywhere... I don't know, where you've been, or why this place is the way it is. I've been so scared... you scared me... and so did Jaws. But you two..."

She struggled and he reached back, pulling her into his arms and lap, as she gasped in surprise, relaxing, as he coddled her.

"You saved me... you risked your life for me... Why?"

Ash felt Rose’s curiosity, and her mild uncertainty, as she allowed him to hold her closer, his arms tightening around her, at the thought that she had nearly died, at the claws of Doggo, and the fangs of Gyftrot.

"I made a promise to ya." Ash grumbled, stroking her soft hair, inhaling that sweet aroma from her aura, as he growled, "I won't let anyone use ya. Not your soul or your body. Jaws and I... we used your body, when we fucked you. And don't think that I didn't notice the fact that you didn't try to stop us. I'm not sure we would have, if you had asked. But, I don't intend for that to happen again. Your Soul is too important, for us to let you fall apart."

Even as he spoke, Rose's grip on his arm was tightening, and her chest heaved, at his promise of protection. 

"Thank you, Ash..." she whispered, looking up at him, her hazel eyes filled with clear, salty tears.

Ash felt his magic flush and stir, at that unblinking, hazy expression. He felt almost drunk, from the pulsing waves of gentle intent that bloomed. Her soft skin and her submissive body, along with her sweet, wild scent of roses and mountain laurels was so very intoxicating, pulling him in until he was nuzzling at her mouth, whining in shock as she pressed her lips back to him.

Maybe this time, he could ask, instead of just taking from her.

“Do you want me to fuck you? Cause, god,” his tone dropped huskily, “I _really _want to fuck you.”

Rose pulled back from the hungry kiss, her cheeks flushed and her eyes nearly hazy as her center ached for attention. 

“Yes,” she replied, in a raspy voice. Her throat hurt from all the screaming she had done today, and she nodded with certainty, whispering, “Please.”

In no time, Ash had pushed her back down, pulling down the oversized pants that Rake had bestowed on her and he groaned as her scent overwhelmed him.

Rose whimpered at his weight above her, and she jerked, as she felt his length push searchingly at her dripping entrance.

Ash felt his magic baptized in blood once more, as he growled above her and this time, he savored the feeling, slowly impaling the pulsing, crimson flower between her legs.

She writhed under him, panting heavily, her eyes hooded as she watched his expression twist with euphoria.

“You feel so _fucking_ amazing.” He bent down to inhale at her neck, causing her to shiver as his tongue dropped from his maw to slick along her neck and behind her ear. With her delicious taste on his tongue, he began to rut into her, his hips snapping viciously against her pale skin as he gave a coarse moan. 

Rose gave a breathy squeal, clinging to him as she felt the force of his thrusts pushing her almost across the cold tile of the floor below, her breasts heaving with each thrust, the folds of her pale, soft stomach trembling violently.

He groaned voraciously as she gripped him tighter and he gripped her shoulder with his teeth, as his sockets leaked with his mixed magic, integrity poisoned by determination.

“Say my name, “He growled into her ear, as he began to push into her harder, driven to a frenzy by the tightening of her sheath around him and the increase of her scent.

“Ah! Ash! Ash, _please_” She cried out, her voice whining, as she wrapped her legs around him.

Her heart hurt, it hurt so much, but her body felt so good this felt so right, and yet it was so _fucked and_-

“Ah!” She screamed as he stroked against a particular spot in her and Ash caught onto it, snarling deeply, he repeated the same motion over and over, bracing himself against her before he gave a sharp, rumbling cry as his essence filled her once again.

The silence of the lab had been thoroughly disrupted, the sounds of whimpers and hoarse gasping filling the gaps of sober silence.

“Better?” Ash grumbled softly, as he looked down at the tiny human underneath him, looking into her hazel eyes, those brown and green eyes reminding him of life outside the mountain, fields of green grass and golden flowers deep with her eyes, rimmed by a cyan sky.

Ash cocked his head as she looked back up at him with an expression he couldn’t read.

Finally, her lips parted with a soft whisper.

“You’ve doomed yourself, you know.”

He cocked his head at her, chilled by her words as she gazed at him morosely.

“You’ve got the curse. And nothing can save you now.” She added softly, turning away from him, so he couldn’t see her guilty expression.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Ash looked up, checking over his shoulder as the raw, dull tone of Jaws broke the strange deadlock between the small human beneath him and himself.

“You can’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.” Ash replied nonchalantly, as he pulled his length from within her, a loud, disgusting _pop! _sound echoing through the lab.

Jaws growled softly, “you _can’t_ do whatever the fuck you want and get away with it, _murderer.”_

Rose timidly spoke, “I… asked him to.”

Jaw’s eye-light darted to her, honing in on her near naked form.

Rose cringed remorsefully under his gaze, feeling overwhelming guilt strike her chest. It was like a weight, pressing against her with a needle-like intensity.

Jaws snapped his gaze back to Ash, who seemed aloof as ever, a smug tilt at his teeth and sockets.

“S’my turn to stand guard. Rake wants ya to help cover her tracks outside, so the others won’t track her here.”

“Why don’t _you_ do it?”

“Not as much** LV** as you, _murderer. **Now get o u t.**”_

Ash snarled, before standing to his full height, his heterochromia eyes manic as he grinned cheerfully, “_don’t take what’s mine, Geek._”

With that, Ash teleported away in a dismissive manner, leaving Jaws bristling, teeth clenched and grinding. Rose cringed, as she watched his facial features nearly crack with the movement of his grimace, the cracks in his skull rubbing in a painful sounding way.

Jaws felt his smile twitch as he eventually relaxed.

“She was never yours to begin with _buddy.” _ he muttered quietly.

Rose cowered in the corner, drawing Jaw’s attention back to her.

She seemed…

The gaunt skeleton cocked his head.

She seemed far _more_ afraid now, that Ash was gone.

Jaws tilted his skull the other way, as it clicked in his scattered mind.

Ash had been hunting her for her SOUL, an intangible concept to humans…

He himself had hunted her for her _flesh, _in order to split her body asunder and share the raw chunks with his starving friends and family.

His non-existent stomach rumbled and his magic pulsed hollowly.

_Stars, he was so hungry… how long had it been, since he’d put food to his teeth? Since he’d replenished the source of his soul?_

His socket overflowed_, his thoughts were crowding him again, pushing out his logic, filling him with want, with need, with primal desire-_

**B l o o d. **

** **

**M a t e.**

** **

** _H u n g e r_ ** _._

** **

“Please don’t.” Rose whimpered, breaking his trance.

Jaws seemed to wake up and found his teeth wrapped around her throat, scraping against her skin harshly, his phalanges cutting into her skin as he squeezed her arms.

The starving skeleton snapped his mouth back open, jerking away from her, his sockets blinking hazily in shock and disgust.

When did he…?

Rose was humming with fear, tears trembling in her eyes as she cowered helplessly, her stomach whining. And yet, she fully realized that he had _jerked away from her. She had asked him to stop... and he did._

_An awkward silence slid by, interrupted by a loud grumble._

“…Ya hungry?” Jaws rumbled softly, as the sound of her hollow belly went right through him.

Rose blinked and nodded haggardly.

Jaws scratched his mandible before slowly making his way back to the other side of the room, measured steps tracing the tile as he settled down.

He reached into his pocket and chuckled softly, “Been saving this… Think ya need it more than me.”

And his socket flooded with magic, raising a small object into the air, he sent it to her.

Rose caught the object, her eyes widening before she devoured the object.

Sour, so sour, lacking any real sweetness, pinching her mouth and stinging her tongue, but it was _so good_ and the juices dripped from her lips, staining her shirt and glistening temptingly on her skin.

Jaws refrained from going near her, but he couldn’t help _watching_, the way her fleshy, red lips moved as she practically inhaled that small crabapple he’d found.

He didn’t even know how long that tree had been barren.

But it had bloomed, not too long ago.

And a single apple had grown. He'd stared, bewildered at the sight of it, and greedily, he had taken the apple, saving it away in his pocket, to remind himself that there was more out there.  
  
**There had to be.**

The starving Skeleton frowned as his magic swirled with voracious appetite, avoiding looking at her, as he became buried in his own thoughts

“Here-”

-He nearly jumped at her sudden proximity… he hadn’t even _heard_ her approach.

Her _scent._

_It smelled of freedom, of security, of torn, shredded flesh and an iron vice._

His eye-light shuddered in the hollow of his skull, his grin stretching wider.

She was holding half the crabapple out to him, looking embarrassed.

“Please, take it.” She murmured,” I’m sorry. I… I’m really confused… I don’t want to take your food, if you're that hungry.”

Jaws raised a brow-ridge at her, his single pupil dilated before he dully shook his head.

“Human food won’t do me any good at this point. That came from a tree, from the surface, it won’t make me feel anything.”

“So why did you take it?” Rose asked in astonishment.

Jaws chuckled, the sound grating against her ears. She knew that sound, the harsh pit of dull agony.

_He…_

She squinted, thoughts dizzy, as she clenched the half eaten apple in her hand.

_He had lost something important… just like she had._

Rose struggled, the knowledge that the same ache that weighed her down likewise existed in this… this _gaunt_, crazed, grinning maniac, taking her breath and shifting her mind.

She backed away from him, his eye-light never leaving her as she felt the opposite wall press into her back.

“What are you lookin’ at, _buddy_?” He smirked at her, as his glimmering lazuli tongue ran over his prominent Cheshire grin.

“I… I, uh…” she stammered.

He cocked his head. She shivered before swallowing and gathering her courage.

If she was being honest… this monster scared her _far more_ than the other one.

But…

She squinted at him. He’d been the_ first_ to appear, when her body had been on the precipice of being aggressively violated by that wolf monster.

And now, as he very obviously restrained himself from invading her space again, she swallowed hard.

Her center was pulsing. Her shoulder, where he’d bitten into her, was _aching._

_ <strike>Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng</strike> _

_She needed him. And the words that stabbed through her brain didn’t seem to matter as much anymore._

“Come here.” She whispered, her legs spreading. A pulse of desire ran hot through her, as his eye-light went straight to her dripping entrance and suddenly, she was shoved to the floor, her belly pressed against the dirty tile, her ass raised into the air, clutched in his long, grasping phalanges.

She whimpered as his tongue ran over her center, from bottom to top, dragging agonizingly over her pale, round buttock.

“YOU…._ fuck_… hope you know what you’re askin’ for, _morsel_.” Jaws groaned deeply, burying his face into her center as he lapped up her blood and arousal, swallowing her essence down thickly as the sense of comfort he had felt the first time he had tasted her seemed to run down his non-existent throat in powerful rivulets, his maw tingling with cardinal sweetness.

She whimpered in submission, as she felt his teeth graze her skin harshly, almost painfully, his tongue massaging her inner walls and rubbing against her sensitive hood.

She would have cried out, but his muffled moan of pleasure tilted her world, the sound itching her scalp, tingling through her fingers and causing an undeniable heat to streak through her cold flesh, sending goose-bumps running along her spine and over the back of her arms.

“Fuck, you’re such a_ tasty_ human…” she heard him grunt, almost to himself, as he continued to lap away the red from her legs.

Rose’s overly sensitive walls calmed and warmed under his attention, a deep coil of heat winding tighter, and tighter, the more aggressively he feasted on her, sucking on her petals and finally giving one more rough flick of his tongue-

“Jaws~!” She burst out, her cries echoing through the lab, as her end crashed over her, leaving her convulsing as her end was almost _painful_ in it’s strength.

Jaws swallowed every bit of her overflow, satisfied in the overflow of honey that seemed to overpower the blood that ran from her womb.

A sense of fullness settled in his soul, a physical sense of… being _normal. _He shook, feeling strange and chaos rolled through his soul. Pulsing desire boiled over his socket as his skull glowed with scarlet magic, his mandible glittering with lazuli ecto-plasma.

His hunger… had been _sated… there was still a dull ache, but the gnawing, biting sensation was gone…_

With a much gentler grin, Jaws pulled back from her apex, as she panted, sweat rolling down the curve of her spine, drawing his gaze to her body.

She was extremely thin, from her time down here, but her skin was so soft and pure…

He didn’t even _realize_ he had crawled over her, eagerly lashing his tongue up her spine, tasting the salt from her body and the sweet essence that leaked from her cracked soul into her skin, causing him to shudder violently with the soothing effect it had on him, as he gripped around her chest, his phalanges squeezing her breasts tightly as he picked her up towards his body, rearing on his knees, he pressed his skull to the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

“Stars, you’re so _sweet_… “

Jaws was surprised when she turned her head and pressed her mouth to his mandible, kissing along his teeth with a shuddering moan as she rasped,” Kiss me?”

He looped his radius and ulna under her arm, reaching up to cup her chin as he twisted her face towards him, lavishing her mouth with attention, groaning throatily at the bitter, angry taste of crabapple on her tongue.

With a snarl, he reached with his other hand to drag his shorts down from his pelvis, freeing the aching swirl of ecto-plasma that had been straining, demanding attention.

He hoisted her a little higher in his lap, slicking his tongue along the shoulder that housed his mark as he roughly sought out her cavern, jousting for her walls roughly.

Rose wriggled impatiently, surprising him when she wrenched away from his grip and twisted all the way around, pushing him down, she groaned, “You’re taking too long, “ and impaled herself in one thrust, crying out softly as she felt his fullness stretch her walls, giving her that feeling of belonging, of being needed <strike>accepted</strike>.

Jaws groaned, as he felt her jerk above him, her fists clenched in his t-shirt, her eyes squeezed shut, as she panted, and moaned, “F-fuck!”

“That’s the idea, snack.” Jaws grinned lopsided at her, as he took a moment to stop being so stiff. Relaxed against the floor, watching her struggle and writhe above him with diligence, reminded him of a person that he used to be, as he felt comfortable enough to lean back and just watch, his glowing red orb slack in his skull. A far away one-liner floated back to him, and he spoke, almost without thinking.

“Looks like yer really workin’ yourself… down to tha’ _bone_ there, Rosy.”

Rose snapped her face towards him in surprise, as he called her by name and she moaned lasciviously, as he continued speaking, his hoarse voice vibrating through her, “You, ~hnng~ really look like you’re havin’ a good time up there, _Rosy.”_

Her name brought to life by his harsh voice was like a melody that rang inside of her, and she whispered back, pleading, as she lurched down on him harder, “P-please… say it again… say my name…”

Jaws’ grin stretched, but it wasn’t the same manic stretch as before… it was a relaxed, almost lazy grin, as he sneered, “What, Rose? You want me to say your name…_Rosy?”_

He leaned up, grasping her hips, as she bounced in his lap, grinning with a dilated pupil as he sneered, recalling the words he'd overheard Ash speak,” You really _are_ like a bitch in heat, aren’t ya’?”

To his absolute surprise, she shuddered hard, at his words, whimpering as her insides clenched on him. With a sharp breath, she reached her peak on his length, throwing back her head as she cried out his name with desperation.

He huffed, his mouth gaping wide open as a rush of her fluids jetted out from her, soaking his pelvis and length with a sharp, spicy tang.

She kept bouncing, sobbing and crying out, as her muscles burned, and suddenly, she was being _bounced right back up,_ as he thrust back against her, growling, and whining, "fuck, _fuck, FUCK!" _

_A cooling sensation ran through her, swirling inside of her, painting her insides with lazuli essence._

Sucking in sharp inhalations of breath, he sat up, holding her quivering form, he soaked in the basking light from her aura; that comforting feeling wreathed around him and made him feel _whole_ again.

"...You ok, Rose?" the words grated from his throat, as he avoided looking at her. Why was she ok with this?

He had hunted her, had sought her out like a mere animal... and she was allowing him this use of her body... hell, she had _fed him_, in a sense, with her own blood.

it was fucked, it was _crazy, _but as she pulled back, her hazel eyes gazing back into him, she only nodded, grunting, "I don't think either of us is ok, Jaws."

He harshly barked a laugh, tilting his head as he grinned," _Dead_ honest, ain't ya?"

She tilted her head back, as she studied him.

"Jaws... what happened down here? I..." she swallowed harshly. "You weren't always the way you are now. Why is everything so miserable?"

Jaws looked away, his pupil sliding back in his socket to avoid her. 

"You're right... things weren't always this fucked up." 

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Rake glanced over suspiciously at Ash, who gave him a red-eyed glare.

"What's with that look?"

"YOU'D BETTER NOT HAVE HURT HER, IMBECILE."

"I didn't." Ash sneered back, as he glanced around the snow, sweeping away the tracks that Rose had left and sowing the ground with blood from a fresh kill that Rake had trapped.

"Why are we doin' this again?"

"GYFTROT IS NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH, IMBECILE." Rake replied angrily, as he set out more traps, his jaw clicking with agitation, "WHEN HE REVIVES, HE'LL BE BACK FOR ROSE."

"What's his deal? My Gyftrot didn't have the ability to revive." Ash grumbled.

Rake groaned, as he looked at Ash in exasperation.

"WE ARE NOT ENTIRELY SURE... BUT IT APPEARS THAT GYFTROT MAY HAVE CONSUMED A HUMAN SOUL. WE ARE CONSTANTLY IN COMPETITION WITH HIM FOR CLAIMING THE DAMN THINGS."

  
"He absorbed a human soul?!" Ash choked. That was not what he'd been expecting.

"IN A SENSE, YES. _CONSUMING_ A SOUL AND _ABSORBING_ THE SOUL ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. HE DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER OF A GOD... RATHER, HE HAS TAKEN ON THE TRAITS FROM THAT SOUL AND IT HAS TAINTED HIS MAGIC."

"So... why haven't you and your _genius_ brother killed him and taken the soul back?" Ash growled.

Rake looked at him with intense fury.

"DO YOU THINK WE HAVE NOT TRIED?" He pointed to his face with a scowl, "WHY DO YOU THINK I LOOK LIKE THIS?"

Ash stopped dead in his tracks, his grin frozen at the thought of Rake being overpowered.

"SA-JAWS TRIED TO TAKE THE SOUL AS WELL, BUT THE TRAIT THAT GYFTROT SWALLOWED WAS PERSEVERANCE. I'M AFRAID HE'S FAR MORE POWERFUL WITH THAT TRAIT THEN EITHER MYSELF OR MY BROTHER AT THE MOMENT."

Ash growled, sneering, "Then I think the two of you could use a hand. Let's get back to Jaws and get a plan together. We need to get out of this hell-hole... and fast, before the other monsters realize we have a human. I doubt they'll be reasonable enough to realize that we can't use her soul, and they're not gonna let us keep her alive... not when she offers flesh for the taking."

Rake nodded, his expression softening at the mention of Rose. She had looked at him with such _trust._

He intended to give back that trust, that _belief_ that she had instilled within him.

If Ash was as powerful as he claimed to be, then they could take back the soul that Gyftrot had devoured... and they could truly get out of here.

  
_There's light at the end of the tunnel._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll enjoyed.  
*falls over dead*


	4. Silken Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaws, Ash and Rake confront Gyftrot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was hard to write. I hope it's not too cliche.  
Also, implication of character death. *hides*

_ “Ruby, what’s the matter?” Rose gazed at her sister with perceptive alertness. _

_ “It’s nothing, Rose.” Ruby snapped out of her funk, flashing a careless grin. “Why don’t you read that story to me? The one you’ve been writing?” _

_ “Are you sure, Ruby? I mean… it’s not that good-“ _

_ “Aw, c’mon, Rose! I love your stories! C’mon, brighten our day!” _

_ “But, if he hears-“ _

_ “He’s not home, though. C’mon, please?” _

_ That soft, familiar voice spun, swirling in distortion, until Rose could feel the hard ground beneath her feet, as she ran to the mountain that loomed in the distance, choking on her desperation, sobbing with anguish. _

_ The mountain stretched, never seeming to get any closer, no matter how _ hard _ she ran, and she cried out in frustration, as she heard her sister calling to her, pleading. _

_ “Run! Don’t look back, Rose, _ **just run** _ !” _

_ Sobbing breathlessly, Rose hesitated, turning back only a moment. _

_ Her feet were swept from underneath her, as darkness overpowered her, and a distorted chuckle rang out, chilling her. _

** _“She is unruly and defiant. Around every corner she lurks.”_ **

_ The distorted voice cackled with mirth and she shivered, as she felt the incredible guilt of her actions weigh down on her. _

** _“Is that not what your book says? Is this not what he foretold for you? You turned out just like her, didn’t you?” That harsh, magnetic whisper in her ear caused her to shake uncontrollably._ **

** _That smooth, baritone continued in a gleeful tone._ **

** _“They took you, and you _ ** **loved** ** _ it. Every second they had you, you _ ** **enjoyed it, like the filthy whore he said you were.”**

_ Rose sobbed in the darkness, feeling her sins crawling over her like so many insects, shaking with grief, and yet unable to deny the truth the voice spoke. _

** _“You’re going to be just like _ ** her ** _… alone and unloved_ ** _ … _ **what would ** _ Ruby _ ** think** ** _?”_ **

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

The lab had gone eerily quiet. The only sound was Rose’s soft, sometimes harsh breathing, as she restlessly slept, whimpers and whines coming from her occasionally.

Jaws glanced down at her, hesitating before he stroked her back softly, keeping absolutely still, as his single dilated eye took her in, noticing with some measure of gratification that she seemed to calm at his touch.

Rose had fallen asleep so quickly, her small, thin body worn out from the strenuous activity, uncaring about his proximity to her as she leaned against his lap.

He couldn’t believe how accepting she’d been of his attentions.

Maybe it was just her hormones… Or maybe it was the strange, buoyant nature of her soul…

Jaws leaned back against the wall, trying to think straight as he scratched at his mandible with his free phalanges.

Ash and Rake had been gone a long time. Rake should have been down by now, in order to take his turn with watching Rose.

Not that Jaws really minded spending the extra time with the human.

His hunger was simmering below the surface, as he licked his chops, looking towards Rose with a bewildered expression.

As much as he wanted to feel a solid sensation in his maw, to swallow down the chunks of flesh that encased her bones, he knew that drinking her blood had miraculously sated some part of him.

It was a solution he hadn’t considered before, and he chuckled softly, as he reached out to her fiery chestnut hair and stroked it, reveling in the soft waves of her hair.

She had unmistakably saved a piece of his sanity. He had _ been _ so very ready to _ eat, _ to finally give in and savor a bite of flesh… and yet, with the iron taste of blood in his mouth, trickling down his throat and dissolving into his magic, he found himself oddly replete.

It was the strangest sensation, after _ starving _ for literal years now.

The gaunt skeleton stroked her hair more gently, as he relaxed into the wall, feeling an alien content, as he closed his sockets, breathing freely, for the first time in so long.

“Who _ are _you, Rose?” He muttered. The cadaverous monster looked back towards the door of the lab, as he heard the sounds of someone approaching from outside.

It was Rake.

The tall, spindly skeleton leaned down, without entering the basement, hissing a whisper.

“SAN- JAWS. ASH HAS A PLAN HE WISHES TO RELAY TO YOU.”

Jaws tugged at his empty socket. He _ really _ didn’t want to leave Rose on her own, and he grumbled, as he glanced down at her sleeping form, hesitating before speaking aloud.

“Awright bro. Ya gonna take my place down here?”

“I AM. BUT I’LL STAY OUT HERE. I DON’T WANT THE TEMPTATION OF HER SOUL AND BODY BECKONING ME.”

Jaws looked at his brother in surprise, suddenly feeling guilty. Rake was starving just as much as he was… and as much as he wanted to keep her honeyed treasure to himself-

“Bro… ya know, her blood tastes really-“

“SAVE IT, BROTHER. UNLESS SHE APPROACHES ME, AND ASKS, I WILL NOT TOUCH HER.”

Jaws flinched, feeling flashes of guilt. He’d been so selfish… as he always was.

“M’sorry, bro-“

“SANS, PLEASE. GO SPEAK WITH THE IMBECILE. IT’S IMPORTANT. HURRY.” 

Jaws flinched at the desperation in his brother's voice as the taller Skeleton stepped back, allowing for Jaws to step through the doorway.

Jaws turned to look back once before he warped into the house, coming face to face with Ash, who sneered at him.

“So. You knew where a human soul was the whole time… and yet you didn’t bring it up because…?”

“You murderous _ prick_. If you’re referring to that beast, Gyftrot, then _** fuck** you._” Jaws snarled with intense hatred. “You think we didn’t _ try, Murderer?” _

Jaws warped right into Ash’s face, growling viciously,” Did you not SEE my brother’s face or his marred body? **G Y F T R O T ** ** _D I D T H A T.”_ **

** **

Ash took a moment to pause, as he growled, “It’s your _only_ option. The way things are going here, you go another three years minimum without food, then _everyone_ will die. There’s absolutely _no_ guarantee that another human will fall down by that time. You only need _one_… and if Rose is discovered,** _ they’ll take her_ **.”

Jaws growled with malice, his eye-light narrowed.

“Over my dead body. M’_ not _gonna let that happen.”

Ash tilted his head at his starving alternate, realizing that Jaws’ magical signature had changed slightly, going from desperate to mildly placated.

“… She did something for you too, huh?”

Jaws glared, his smile twitching at the question his doppelgänger had posed.

“_Tibia _ honest, that’s really none of your business. I think we can both agree, for now, that we have a common goal in making sure she stays alive. There’s something about her soul that’s different from the main soul traits that have been studied, not to mention the fact that her soul is cracked, and wouldn’t serve us in a sufficient capacity for our end goals in getting out of this hell-hole.”

Jaws seemed to fidget, ever so slightly, his pupil sliding away towards the ground as he admitted, “… I’d rather face that bastard and take back the perseverance soul, than use Rose.”

Ash crossed his arms, feeling a sense of surprise.

Technically, this didn’t make sense. There was really no tangible reason for both himself and Jaws to be so attached to the small human woman, down in the lab… nothing except for the comfort that her soul had unleashed on both of their own tortured spirits, when they’d taken her and used her body to sate their primal desires.

No, there was something _ there, _ something that he desperately wanted to explore, to quantify and measure, without the constant threat of death.

It appeared Jaws felt the same way, as he cracked his knuckles with a painful sounding _ crunch. _

“We’re gonna need Rake for this.” Ash continued harshly, “My magic’s been fully replenished, so I’m good to go a round with that bastard. However, from what Rake said… and if he’s anything like… like _my_ Papyrus, then I know he’s not exaggerating about this, but it really sounds like all three of us are gonna have to work together.”

Jaws scratched at his mandible, his one eye-light lidded as he nodded slowly, trying to ignore the glimmer of red that flashed over Ash’s head.

That thing honestly gave him the creeps, that _vapor_ that seemed to grin at him with his brother’s face at times.

He quickly looked away, his perception plaguing him as he agreed, “Rake can come up with a strategy for us to utilize. Once we tear that fucker apart, we gotta work fast, to find the soul in his body. If we don’t, he’ll come back... and he’ll _ fuck _ us.”

Ash looked at Jaws with a disgusted look.

“… do you actually mean that literally?”

Jaws just gave a snort as he continued, avoiding the question.

“Once we have the soul, we need to take it to the capital. Rake can take care of that end of it. Once we get there, we evacuate everyone, and come back for Rose. We’ll sneak her to the surface quietly, feed the others some bullshit story about where she came from.”

Ash nodded, leaning off the wall, he grunted, “We’re gonna have to lock her in the lab. I don’t think she’ll be running again. Not after what happened the last time.”

Jaws shook his head slowly, his teeth grinding at the thought of her running. No. No she wouldn’t be running again. Not if he could help it.

“Leave that to me.” He grumbled, “I know how to lock up that lab. She won’t be getting out… and no one will be getting in either.”

Ash nodded and set his heterochromia eyes on the window, his grin shifting slightly.

“They’d better not… if they try, there’ll be hell to pay.”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Rake shivered, as he stood silently outside the lab. The gnawing sensation in his magic and the hunger that dwelled inside his teeth had long since become old friends, hardly anything more than constant companions.

He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his brother and that imbecile who was constantly sabotaging his traps, had both taken full advantage of the little human woman inside.

Without something to deadlock his hunger, he knew he’d be far too tempted to do the same to her, and although she had accepted the advances of the other two skeletons, she hadn't asked him for the same attention, and until she did, he wouldn't touch her.

Something about her soul had _warmed_ him, when he’d taken her from Ash and carried her back to the lab. Something about her aura had sparkled, and when she had looked at him, with that _trusting_ expression, he knew that he had to keep his promise, to bring her no harm. He refused to take from her physically as well, the way his brother had.

A pang of sharp emotions wrangled his soul and he whined gutturally in his non-existent throat, longing to touch, longing to feel her aura scintillate around him.

Perhaps, if this plan with Gyftrot actually worked-

Rake shivered. He remembered that first encounter with the changed monster all too well; the slavering ease with which the monster had avoided his traps, the flashes of the violet soul trait echoing within those many blood-covered eyes.

Rake took a deep, shuddering breath. No. He wouldn’t give in to his own fear and self-doubt.

The whole Underground was counting on him… the safety of the human in the lab depended on him.

It was with no surprise when he felt his brother suddenly appear next to him.

Wordlessly, the monster that had been Comic Sans Gaster went into the lab, looking over his shoulder, he gave Rake a concerned glance.

“Bro, Ash is waitin’ for ya. I’m gonna lock up the lab.”

“VERY WELL, BROTHER.” Rake turned to leave, casting one last glance behind him.

Her scent had gently wafted from the lab, and he tried to ignore the gnawing sensation he felt at the smell of it, his bones rattling, but his spirit resolute, fighting against all the hunger and want that raged in him.

_ HUMAN, WE’RE GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE… ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. I SWEAR. _

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

The shadows that lingered over the snow were deep, dark blue and frozen with a sense of dread.

No one lingered outside, if they could help it. No one… except the smallest of the monster kind.

Running along the top of the snow, hiding in every crevice, and whispering with short giggles and manic fangs, the descendants of Arachne flourished.

When the human had first appeared, they’d kept an eye on her, following her from the shadows, observing the game that Sans and his strange duplicate played with her.

And when the two monsters had caught her, but failed to _ kill _her and fight over her soul, that's when they had sent word back to their queen.

“You’re sure of this, my pretties?” Muffet had hissed, musing quietly from the shadows of the Core.

Where once she had been so beautiful, slim and petite, there was a bloat to her belly, a sallowness to her cheeks, and one of her many onyx eyes was missing.

Someone had once asked her about it, but she refused to give a straight answer… although it was noted that her large “pet”, had gone missing.

“So.” Muffet mused softly, as she hoisted herself up to her feet and considered the information before her.

“The skeletons have a human… but they have not informed the queen…” Muffet leered softly, her five eyes blinking in rapid succession, as she chuckled, “Those uppity, self-righteous freaks think they’re so clever… _ Why _ have they spared this human?”

Muffet turned to the tiny spider who had carried the message.

“Find the reason why they have kept her. I know that glutton, Sans, has been holding back for a very long time… he nearly ate the last human who fell down here. Find the value that this human holds.”

For the next hours that ticked by, bleeding into a new day, Muffet was fed information, and what the spiders found had her rolling with laughter.

“You’re _ joking. _ They’ve been _ fucking _ her? We’re all _ starving, _ and all they can think to do is _ mate?” _

The spider trembled violently before his spider queen, who glowered, leering,” There must be _ another _reason.”

Hesitating, the spider crept close, knowing that the next tidbit of information that he held was bound to be the end for him. It was a sacrifice he gladly made, however.

Muffet's mouth pulled into an arrogant grin at the next whispered words to her ears, and suddenly, she snatched up the spider and looked deep into his eyes, her mouth parting open as she licked her fangs.

“How very _ fascinating… a new soul trait._”

The spider didn’t even bother to struggle as he was devoured by his queen, who chewed thoroughly before swallowing, groaning softly with the succulent crunch of the eight-legged morsel.

“How very interesting… And they’ve left her alone… Sounds like a _ golden _opportunity.” Muffet smirked as she began thrumming a message on a strand of her web. There would be plenty of time to inform the undisputed queen of the Underground of the human’s presence… for now, it was time for Muffet to explore her options.

With her myriad of children as her servants and sustenance, Muffet had all the time in the world.

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

(flashback, one year ago, shortly after the very last LOAD)

_ “Papyrus!” _

_ “SANS! RUN! JUST _ ** _R U N_ ** _ !” _

_ “ _ ** _N o_ ** _ ! Pap! _ ** _P a p y r u s_ ** _ !” _

_ Sans would never forget the anguished shock on his brother’s face, as Gyftrot revived unexpectedly and snapped his neck forward to grip Papyrus’ spine with his slavering mandibles. _

_ Sans would never forget the sound of the sickening crunch. _

_ Papyrus’ scream of agony that quickly followed. _

_ Sans had never moved so fast in his life as he quickly pinned Gyftrot down again with a flurry of bone attacks, causing the beast to drop his brother, struggling to stand, as his body was literally impaled tightly to the ground. _

_ “Burn in hell, asshole,” Sans snarled, as he caught Papyrus before the tall Skeleton fell to the snow, coughing and trembling as Sans quickly gripped his brother’s hand, pleading, “Hold on, bro!” _

_ It was the hardest thing in the world, but Sans carried his brother through the void, his skull cracking even further with the effort. _

_ The Door to the Ruins loomed in front of him and he quickly pounded on the door, pleading, “Old Lady! OLD LADY! PLEASE! HEAR ME!” _

_ Nothing. _

_ Nothing except the sound of his bones splintering under his incessant knocking, the echoes of his sobbing screams, the distortion that carried in his voice before he froze. _

_ Faintly, he could hear her. That soft, murmuring tone. _

_ “Who’s there?” _

(end flashback)

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

“Hey, Geek, you awake there?”

Jaws snapped out of his memories, his eye-light drifting up to Ash’s sneering face.

“Don’t be goin’ and napping _ now _ of all times.”

Rake snorted and muttered in a restrained tone under his breath, “You’re One To Talk, Imbecile.”

They were lying in wait for Gyftrot to come sauntering from around the corner.

Rake had observed the elk-like monster enough times to know that the monster had some very specific haunts that he lurked about constantly. Rake had a speculation that this had to do with the human soul that Gyftrot had devoured.

There was a sudden _ hush _ in the air, a visible stillness that stole Jaws’ breath away.

Ash went deathly still, as Gyftrot slowly came into view. The dark silhouette seemed to glide over the snow, as the monster ambled through the woods, a deathly shadow stalking between the dead trees.

Ash shuddered as those many blood-red eyes turned towards them, seeing without really seeing.

Rake was struggling to keep his bones from rattling. He remembered the wounds this monster inflicted on him very clearly.

However, the human woman was depending on him… the entire underground was counting on him, so Rake kept his frame shunted together, refusing to allow his soul to be shaken as Gyftrot deemed it safe to continue to amble forward, moving with unnatural silence.

“NOW.” Rake muttered and upon his brother's command, Jaws leapt out, raising his fists in a decisive motion as he roared, “ Hey, asshole, 

**r e m e m b e r m e ?”**

Gyftrot’s head snapped up at the sudden movement and Jaws moved quickly, as he summoned giant, blue-tinted bones from the ground, effectively boxing the distracted monster in. Gyftrot gave an inhuman screech, as he tried to run forward, impaled on a sudden trap that thrust into his belly, after carelessly running over a trigger.

Rake’s sockets glittered with ochre and amber magic as he reached out and snapped his arm back in a pulling motion, running Gyftrot through with even _ more _ sharpened bones, to pin him securely to the ground, while raising more trapping bones around him.

“ASH.” Rake snarled, impaling a final bone through Gyftrot’s head, “DO IT. NOW!”

Ash’s sockets flooded with the power of his LV, and a surge of energy blazed to life within the maws of four gaster-blasters that he summoned, bathing Gyftrot in the light of immeasurable destruction.

Jaws thrust out his hand, his left socket leaking with dull lazuli-colored magic as he _ reached _, reached, REACHED; trying to find the fluttering soul that was held captive by the magic and dust of the starving monster.

Ash grunted as he summoned four more blasters, focusing all his magic into tearing apart the monster that was rapidly reviving and reconstructing before them.

“Jaws, stop _ fucking around and get the damn soul!” _

Jaws was sweating, reaching, searching, grasping, no, oh no, where was it, **w h e r e w a s** ** _i t?_ **

** **

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

(flashback)

_ “He’s lucky to be alive.” The old lady murmured softly, as she focused what little magic she held within her being to give to the skeleton before her. Sans fidgeted, as he gazed at her, she was so much smaller than she used to be, her fur sallow, her cheeks sunken in, and her frame much lankier then he remembered. _

_ Stars, it was probably _ **k i l l i n g ** _ her to use this energy to heal his brother... _

_ Papyrus' bones were mending crookedly, giving him a spindly, elongated look, and Sans just shook his head, feeling ecto tears leak down his skull as he tried to keep his gruff voice from shaking. _

_ “I appreciate this, old lady.” _

_ The former queen of the underground gave a faint, gleaming smile, as she tilted her head towards Sans. _

_ “It’s the least I could do for you, my old friend… in return for all that you have done for me.” _

_ Sans trembled at the flush of memories that flooded him then; flashes of warm fur in the dark, soft, gentle touches intermingled with animalistic desperation for comfort. _

_ Toriel was gazing back down at Papyrus with a broken expression, severely weakened by the output of green magic that she had used. _

_ With bitter regret, her voice broke the silence. _

_ “Sans… I want to apologize. I coerced you to make a promise that was impossible to keep. For that, I ask your forgiveness. It was wrong of me to ask you to make such a bond.” _

_ Sans startled, as he looked back up at Toriel, and she gave him an expression that just about split his soul in half _

_ With a harsh chuckle, he shrugged and muttered, “Don’t be sorry… you did nothing wrong, Tori. You never did _ anything _ to harm me. You’ve always been my friend…” _

_ Toriel’s eyes widened, as they shifted ever so slightly away from Sans, and he immediately phased just to the side, just as slavering teeth gripped at the empty space he had occupied only moments before, a growl reverberating through his broken skull. _

_ Toriel scooped Papyrus up and backed away, as Sans summoned four Gaster Blasters and let them loose upon the monster in a complicated pattern, raising bones up from the floor, he created a barrier between himself and Gyftrot before turning to Toriel, snarling deeply as his skull leaked with his magic. _

_ “ _ ** _ R u n.”_ **

_ The tall former Queen hesitated, her rose-colored eyes gleaming before she shoved Papyrus’ body into his arms. _

_ “Take your brother, and go. I know of your talent… there was someone I knew, long ago, who could do the same. Now go. GO.” _

_ The bones broke loose, and there was Gyftrot, towering over both Toriel and Sans, maw gaping and eyes blazing with three kinds of hunger. _

_ Sans hated himself. _

_ He hated himself _ so very much _ , as he teleported away, holding his brother tightly before he felt the wash of flame that encircled Toriel, her pink eyes flashing red with the last of her power, and her terrible, thunderous voice ringing out, _ “YOU WILL DO **NO **HARM TO MY FRIENDS.”

_ The last image Sans saw, as he fell backwards, out of existence, was Toriel, standing strong, in spite of her obvious exhaustion, with Gyftrot stumbling towards her, flesh bubbling and peeling back, and yet, the purple flash of perseverance glimmering underneath the surface of his dust. _

_ Sans never saw Toriel again. _

_ But he did see Gyftrot again, after that. _

_ It was a sin that would forever scar his soul. _

(end flashback) 

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8 

Gyftrot gave a powerful shriek, as he let loose a barrage of magic, forcing Ash to dodge prematurely and cutting off his attack.

Icy particles of poisonous magic whizzed through the air, and one struck Rake in the ribs, causing him to stumble back with a cough and a snarl. Ash looked wildly towards his alternate, who was visibly shaking and sweating.

_“I can’t find the damn soul!”_

Jaws panicked, sweat beading along his skull as Gyftrot began to revive, twitching grotesquely as his body mended and his half-formed dust sifted back into his being, giving a grotesque squelching sound as the hoofed being stumbled back to an upright position, walking in a jerky, unnatural movement, reminiscent of a marionette. 

_ Hunger… blood… MATE…. _The monster’s whisper licked along Jaws’ mind and he flinched, his mind turning back to Rose, as he desperately tried to find the familiar feeling of a human soul, his magic wearing out faster, the longer he had it activated.

Gyftrot staggered forward from the trap that the skeletons had set and snarled with slavering mandibles and fangs, a violet glow bursting behind his red eyes and teeth before light burst, and icy particles formed in the air. 

The wind howled as Gyftrot sent these attacks forward, without hesitation, giving an inhuman roar that couldn’t physically be heard, yet it seemed to rip apart Jaws’ skull, making him fall to his knees as he clutched at his empty socket and the hole in his head. 

The flashbacks were starting, and Jaws struggled, as he gripped his hatchet with a manic grimace. With his magic nearly depleted, he readied himself to go on the attack, however, he was forced to dodge, as Gyftrot moved impossibly quick, matching him nearly warp for warp.

It didn’t seem to _ matter _ how many times Jaws buried his hatchet into the thick hide of the beast, dust would spill, revealing violet light inside the hollow of the beast’s magic and more dust would fill the empty space.

With a swift swing of his antlers, Gyftrot swept Jaws’ legs out from under him and stomped down, in the space between his left radius and ulna, splitting the thick bones apart.

Jaws sucked in his breath, his eye-light dilating and _ immeasurable pain spiked through his entire being. _

His scream of pain and rage echoed through the overwhelming silence.

Ash snarled deeply, as he was struck with multiple attacks that Gyftrot sent at him, hissing uneasily as he staggered to his feet.

_ WELL, BROTHER, IS THIS IT? _

There it was again, that damn echo of his brother’s voice, haunting his mind and taunting him with his failure.

_ ARE YOU GONNA GIVE IN? LET THEM DIE? LET _ **ME** _ DIE? _

Ash trembled, as he cast a glance at <strike>Papyrus</strike> Rake, who was struggling to stand, partially bent as he tried to protect his wounded ribs, arm outstretched, as he raised a bed of sharp bones beneath Gyftrot and a protective wall of bones in front of Jaws, rattling his bones in agitation as he did so.

_ AND WHAT OF THE LITTLE ROSE, WHICH YOU SWORE TO PROTECT? _

With a growl and a painfully stretched smile, Ash staggered back to his feet, raising both hands, he barked authoritatively.

“**S a n s. Get it ** ** _t o g e t h e r, before _ ** **our** ** _ brother dies._ ** **”**

And with that, Ash called upon the power of the void, feeling a surge of strength that he knew wasn’t his own.

Four large void beasts emerged, their eyes glowing violet, followed by four more, their sockets half blind and luminescent with radioactive tones of amber and ochre. Pure beams of anti-matter came flooding from their yawning throats, all their attention focused on the writhing, struggling beast.

Jaws clenched his teeth as the words of Ash struck his soul like a lance, grinding his molars together as he struggled to stand in the dirty snow, clutching at his broken ulna and radius. 

The shadows in his hollow socket deepened while his left socket guttered with power.

The thought, the _ unbearable thought that he would lose his brother for good echoed through the caverns of his broken mind, followed closely by the idea that _ **her** _ sacrifice would be in vain. _

_ His teeth shifted with the thought, the unbearable thought, and he growled deeply, not if he could help it, no, no, it would _ ** **

**_n o t h a p p e n a g a i n_ ** _ .” _

Without reservation, his powers split through the writhing mass that was Gyftrot and suddenly, like a magnet, there it was…. Or rather, there it _ wasn’t _.

The human soul.

Dispersed within the swirling magic that Gyftrot was comprised of, the violet soul was split into pieces, fragments and chunks.

Jaws absolutely froze, his soul thumping as he realized the conundrum he was now in.

The soul was in _ pieces _.

If he pulled it out, it would shatter… and if this was the _ same _ human he remembered from over a year ago, then that meant… that meant that there would be a LOAD.

_ And Rose would be gone from them, back to whatever hell she had lived in before. _

Jaws ground his teeth, at the same time, if he did nothing, then they would all probably die. Gyftrot would eat them, and then go looking for Rose.

Fuck.

He gripped the soul canister from his pocket.

There was no other choice that he could see, the risk would have to be taken.

With a blinding roar, he felt for and gathered all the soul fragments, as Gyftrot melted and reformed continuously.

The starving Skeleton grabbed each fragment until he was certain all the pieces were together before he _ yanked, cupping the pieces tightly together within the confines of his magic. _

All the pieces were poured into the activated canister like a liquid and he decisively capped it and activated it, sweating as he looked up to see Ash drop to his knees in exhaustion as finally, _ finally… _ Gyftrot faded away to dust, like a pillar of salt melting away into the snow.

The overwhelming silence was broken by the sound of the three skeleton monsters gasping for breath.

Jaws clutched at the soul container, as a sense of _ relief _ flooded him.

A weight he didn’t know he had been carrying was lifted from his soul, and he felt an overwhelming sense of peace that had his sockets dripping with lazuli tears.

The fucker was gone… and he was still here. So was Rake, and Ash.

He turned to see his brother, hunched over, wounded… but alive.

Ash was pouring sweat, his tongue lolling with exhaustion, as he sealed away his void beasts and staggered towards the other two skeletons.

“Holy _ shit_, that soul’s near fuckin’ destroyed.” Ash grunted hoarsely as he got a good look at the soul, which was indeed, broken to pieces, the fragments morphing and shifting in stasis within the canister like a lava lamp.

Jaws nodded, his scarlet eye-light bloated within his socket.

He couldn’t speak. Hell, he could hardly _ think _.

He felt _ so many things. _

Toriel had been avenged… the scourge of Snowdin had been destroyed… and Rose was far safer than she had been previously.

“THAT’S THE LAST SOUL… BUT IT’S SO BROKEN… _ CAN _ WE USE IT? SHOULD WE EVEN TRY?” Rake asked in consternation, “STARS, IT’S EVEN MORE DESTROYED THAN… “ Rake paused, as the two shorter skeletons snapped their attention towards him, warning glares fixed on their skulls.

“Let’s go. Rake, ya should sleep, recover your HP. Once we’re fresh, we’ll get this bitch to the Capitol.” Jaws growled.

Rake nodded, actually looking weary as he mumbled, “INDEED… I DON’T WANT TO APPEAR WEAK BEFORE UNDY- THE QUEEN.”

Ash said nothing. All he could think was of going to Rose, to caress her, to tell her that she was gonna be ok. She would be safe, and he’d ensure that she reached the surface in safety.

They were gonna get out of here… and maybe once he got to the surface, he could find a scummy human’s soul to take, someone who would not be missed.

There was still the matter of his timeline, after all. The desire to reset everything, and take the soul of Frisk before they had a chance to kill anyone was still raging within him…

For the first time in a very, very long time, Ash felt a semblance of optimism.

_ WELL NOW, THAT’S MORE LIKE IT. _

For the first time, Ash paused, listening with patience, as his brother’s voice continued.

_ SOUNDS LIKE YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY BE LISTENING TO ME, FOR FUCKING ONCE, SANS. _

Ash trembled. He wanted so much to reply, but his tongue felt thick behind his teeth and he couldn’t bring himself to reply, as though this_ was_ the brother he had slaughtered.

_ YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEAK, FOR NOW. JUST THE FACT THAT YOU’RE LISTENING WILL DO. YOU’VE DONE WELL. I’LL LEND YOU MY POWER, TO ATTEND TO OUR DOUBLES. THEY NEED HEALING. IF YOU EVER TRUSTED ME… DO SO NOW, AND ALLOW ME TO GUIDE YOU. _

Ash took a deep breath, feeling his limbs slacken, and indeed, there seemed to be a force behind his limp bones.

“Here.” he said gruffly, taking hold of Jaws and Rake both, “Hold still.”

He closed his sockets, and to his utter surprise, he felt that familiar feeling of his brother’s healing magic.

It didn’t seem possible…_ was his brother alive after all?_

The thought was disturbing, and Ash tried to ignore the fact that Jaws was gaping up at something over his head, his sockets near hollow, minus the pinprick of crimson light that existed in his left socket.

If Jaws could truly see a vapor of a wraith of some sort, Ash had _no_ desire to turn to look, as he focused the magic that flowed through him to mend the broken bones of the two monsters before him.

There was not a word spoken about Ash’s sudden penchant for healing.

Rake and Jaws knew it wasn’t truly Ash’s power, and that was enough for them both, as they turned to go back home.

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8 

From the shadows of the trees, tiny eyes watched the events that unfolded; they waited, lingering along the bark and twisted twigs, tiny fangs glinting and whispers flowing innumerable through the entire Underground.

"Our Queen must be told."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh *sweats*


	5. Off With Your Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare lurks, watching with ill-intent.
> 
> Ash comes to terms with the ghost that haunts him.
> 
> Rose tries to understand her place in this strange new situation she's in.
> 
> When all is said and done... who will get the soul?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took forever. Holy heck. But here it is!

Darkness awaited Rose when she awoke. She knew she was alone, there in the lab… but she didn’t _ feel alone. _

No, she could feel eyes, peering at her from the darkness and she felt as though… as though she could _ hear it. _The darkness had a presence, and she shivered as she hugged her legs and called out, in a soft, quivering voice, “ Is s-someone there?”

Nothing.

And yet, the darkness seemed to grow _ louder. _

It pulsed in her veins and sent her shuddering.

She nearly shrieked, her cry stillborn in her throat when a pale, aquamarine eye seemed to blink into existence, fixated on her.

She clutched her hands over her mouth, not daring to breathe, not daring to even cry out, as a luminous form took place, morphing and melding into the form of her _ stepfather. _

_ “What are you doing here Rosy?” He sneered, “Didn’t I tell you to stay home? You never would have seen, if you had just been a good girl and done what I told you! Now-” _ His smirk grew, wild and manic, “ _ Now Ruby’s all alone, and it’s _ ** _y o u r f a u l t.”_ **

“It’s not real.” The words wrenched from her throat, as she whispered, “It’s not real, it’s not, it’s not, this is only a dream, only a dream-“

Her whispers hitched into whines, as the form of her father drew near without moving, grinning, “_ Poor, selfish Rosy. Going round and round in circles _.”

She was humming and whining with fear, whispering verses from her book like protective spells, as he knelt in front of her, gripping her knees and hissing into her face, _ “You’ll never be nothing more than a dirty slut, _ ** _like your mother-“_ **

And she shrieked, as light flooded the basement, and there was _ nothing there. _

“Rose?”

Jaws teleported right in front of her, his eyelight looking over her in an anxious manner as he growled, “Why’d ya scream?”

Rose shivered as she flung herself forward, hugging his lanky frame tightly, she sobbed.

“There was someone _ here.” _

Jaws stiffened, his eyelight shrinking in his socket as he hesitantly pulled her into his grasp.

“Rose… there ain’t a soul around.” He returned, although even as he spoke, he wondered.

She sniffled, and looked up at him with wide hazel eyes.

“J-Jaws, I… please,” she begged, flushing, “Please don’t leave me down here by myself.”

His grip on her tightened and he nodded slowly,

“Ok.”

She relaxed into him, whimpering softly, her heart palpitating and her sobs quieting, even as her soul writhed with guilt.

“J-Jaws?”

“Yeah?”

“Is… is there any way we can get out of here? I… I have to go back to the surface.” She sobbed softly.

Jaws looked at her with a frown.

“Rosy, ya didn’ read the books in the old lady’s house?” he asked thickly. Generally, humans who fell down here would scour that small library in the old house-

“You m-mean that house in the purple hallways? N-no, I didn’t stay there long… it was _ haunted.” _She shuddered and Jaws flinched guiltily. He could only imagine what that empty house must be like now.

He shook his head and cradled her in his lap.

“We’re _ gonna _ get out, Rosy. S’why we had to leave you here alone. We found what we were lookin’ for.”

“It’s gonna be a miracle if we get outta here alive.” Ash growled, suddenly appearing beside them.

Rose jumped, but relaxed, once she saw who it was.

Ash looked down at her, sliding against the wall to sit next to her and Jaws.

Rose wiggled out of Jaw’s grasp, to sit between them.

“What do the two of you mean? I… “ she struggled, as she tried to gather her thoughts, trying to ignore the gnawing in her stomach. The apple Jaws had given her had only temporarily satisfied her, and the pain was unbearable, as she tried to distract herself.

“I’ve been running down here for two weeks and I know absolutely nothing… I thought that the two of you would_ kill _ me. However... you tell me my soul is a commodity, and that you won’t let anyone hurt me… but why? What happened down here? Why are we trapped? And… why is everyone so _ hungry _?” she shivered, as Jaws looked over at Ash, who merely shrugged.

Rose looked up, almost sharply, as she added, “There’s something else… it hasn’t been lost on me that the two of you look so similar. I’ve heard Rake call Jaws by the name of ‘Sans’.… Who is Sans?”

Ash frowned, and Jaws snorted.

“Ya got so talkative all of a sudden, morsel. Guess you’re really not scared of us anymore, huh?”

“I mean… I _ was _ afraid, at first. How could I not be?” she returned softly, “But… The both of you _ protected _ me, twice now… you’re protecting me at this very moment by hiding me here from the rest of the monsters outside. I...” She trembled, “I honestly thought I was gonna die when that dog caught me… and again, when that strange creature, Gyftrot? I was far more frightened of _ him _ than the two of you. And even now-”

Jaws flushed blue, as she looked over at him, “You fed me.”

And Ash looked away, shifting guiltily as she added softly, “You kept me warm.”

She wrung her hands, and they both took in a breath, as her soul gave a soft pulse.

“The both of you owed me nothing… and yet, you’ve both sacrificed something for me.”

She looked sideways at them both, as she added softly, “You don’t need to explain it now… but, it seems like my death would have been far more beneficial to you both, right? And yet, you’ve kept me alive.”

Ash nodded, as Jaws finally spoke, “Look, we’re… _ Monsterkind _ has been trapped down here for a very long time, Rosy. We were sealed under this mountain by seven mages. And in order to get free, we need seven human souls, to break the barrier. Your soul… would have been the last one that we need.”

Rose shuddered, her stomach feeling heavy and twisting in her gut as she looked up in Jaws’ face.

“But look,” he continued, somewhat harshly, “When Ash and I… _ took _ you, something strange happened. Your soul… we already told ya, it isn’t normal. It… gave us something. Something that we had forgotten.”

Ash leaned back, looking up at the ceiling as he muttered, “Even cracked and damaged as it is, your soul had a positive effect on us. No other soul trait has done something like that before.”

Rose shivered, as he added, with a softer grin than she’d seen on his face before, “You made us remember who we used to be. Comic Sans. The Judge of the Underground.”

At the mention of that name, Rose felt a chill ice over her heart. Something about that name sent shivers down her spine and she swallowed as she continued.

“You said you need one more soul… did… did someone else fall down?” she asked in a low voice, her stomach turning at the thought that someone might have just died in her place.

Ash grunted.

“We got a human soul from Gyftrot. The reason he was so powerful was because he was holding onto a soul. So, uh, no. No one else has fallen. We’re gonna get outta here, Rosy… and we’re gonna take you with us, if you don’t mind.”

Rose shook her head, softly admitting, “There’s only _ one _ reason I’d go back to the surface.”

“Why’s that?” Jaws grunted softly, his curiosity piqued.

She shifted, her tongue feeling thick as she admitted, “I… I have a little sister that I left behind. I need to go back to her.”

Jaws looked down at her, at the mention of her sibling, remembering that she’d murmured a name in her sleep, and he asked, with a gruff reluctance, “Rose… why’d ya end up down here, if ya got someone back on the surface?”

The pain in Rose’s face arched through Ash, and they both could feel despair radiating from Rose’s cracked soul… and suddenly, it was no surprise that she was so damaged.

“I didn’t fall.” She swallowed harshly.

And immediately, Ash and Jaws sat up, attentive, as she went silent.

The two skeletons exchanged looks, but said nothing, neither of them willing to ask the question that was on their minds.

_ You were never meant to be down, here, were you? _

SHE’S LIKE YOU. NEITHER OF YOU ARE MEANT FOR THIS PLACE.

Ash flinched at the voice, and to his horror, he could see a flash of red, at the corner of his socket.

He reached up, to feel at the dusty scarf around his neck, wanting to reply, but unwilling to speak to the apparition, in front of Rose and his Doppelganger.

“Wait, if you _ have _ a soul, why are the both of you _ with me _, instead of breaking the barrier?” Rose murmured, her stomach twisting again with fear and anxiety. If it was that easy, why did they seem so settled here with her?

Jaws gave a harsh snort.

“Aside from wanting to make sure you were safe? Pa-Rake. Rake has to be the one to take the soul to the Queen. She, uh, won’t want to see _ me or Ash _. He’s sleeping right now, however, to recover his health.”

Rose looked up in concern, her hazel eyes flickering.

“What happened to him? Is he ok?”

Jaws gave a bitter smile, feeling guilty. It was _ his _ fault that Rake was hurt… if he’d been faster with that damn soul-

“He’ll be ok. He took some hits from Gyftrot, but he’s tough. Tougher than anyone gives him credit for.” Ash gave Jaws a meaningful look.

I’M FLATTERED AT YOUR WORDS, BROTHER.

“If you two will excuse me, nature calls.” Ash grumbled, warping away from the lab.

Jaws gave a huff.

“Dumbass. Skeletons don’ piss.” He muttered to himself, freezing as Rose gave a soft chuckle at his words.

“Then what was he talking about?”

But Jaws wasn’t focused on her words anymore…

Her smell was drawing him in, making him feel almost _ drunk. _

She recognized that look on his face and gave a shudder.

“Are you… are you hungry?” she asked, with a shudder of excitement, as heat pooled into her belly. The guilt she felt at this desire she felt for him still weighed on her, but she found that she didn’t care quite as much anymore. There was no one here to judge her, and besides that, it was doing something _ good _ for the broken skeleton before her.

How could something that felt so good, something that gave such pleasure and satisfaction, be wrong?

As these thoughts ran through her mind, he was giving a slow, eager nod, his eyelight engulfing his dark socket.

“Then, come here, Jaws.” She murmured, scooting back and spreading her legs, shyly offering herself to him again.

Jaws fell upon her greedily, as he dove between her thighs, ripping away her shorts, he thrust his skull up against her flesh, lashing his tongue eagerly against her with a hoarse groan of relief as her blood coated the insides of his maw once more.

She whimpered, trying to restrain her voice, as her sore regions were massaged and cleaned thoroughly.

He slowed down, as her blood satiated his senses, his tongue dragging slower and slower upon her most sensitive of regions.

“J-Jaws!” she whimpered, “I, oh please, please, I want to, I, I want-!”

“What?” He couldn’t help grinning at her from between her legs, leering softly with hooded sockets, “What do you want, _ morsel _?”

“M-make me cum,” she whispered, not daring to meet his gaze as she spoke, her cheeks stained red with flushed embarrassment, and Jaws growled at the sight of that rosy complexion, returning his attention to the crux of her legs, he licked slowly, savoring the taste of her.

His magic felt simmered down, and he groaned, as he took the time to explore her, enjoying every noise she made, in response to the slow drag of his tongue over her soft skin, testing the spots that made her writhe, and giving a snicker when her back arched off the ground.

“Feel good, little Rose?”

“Y-yes…” she hissed, whimpering as he suckled down on her pearl, grinning when her whimper became so much louder.

“Shhh, sh, morsel… you want Ash to hear you?” he grunted, and she quavered, as he grinned, “He might get jealous… then you’ll have to feed_ him too _.”

Something about the thought of Ash reappearing, catching them both in their current position had Rose’s toes curling, and she cried out, her body breaking in waves of euphoria, as Jaws tilted her over the edge.

As she glowed with warmth, she blinked, to find Jaws curling his gaunt form around her.

He looked… truly exhausted.

And she leaned into him as he pulled her into his body, murmuring, “Never met someone like you before, Rose. You were so quiet and submissive… but there’s more to ya than that, isn’t there?”

She shivered and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

“I’ve never met anyone like you either, Jaws… I think it’s safe to say I’ve _ never _ met a talking skeleton.”

He gave a husky chuckle, and she felt him relax around her, the smell of pine trees and a tangy scent, like… like ketchup, oddly, permeating her senses.

She didn’t feel sleepy, her every sense was alive and alert… but here, in the arms of her monster, she felt safe, unlike before, when she had been alone.

The darkness no longer seemed threatening.

It was warm, and secretive, like an old friend sharing hopes and dreams.

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

“Ok. We need to talk.” Ash growled.

Silence.

Ash snarled, “If you’re real, Pap, then you need to say so. I can’t keep doing this.”

To his absolute shock, a distortion in the air swirled, and suddenly, there was Papyrus… but not as Ash remembered him.

There was a hollowness to his sockets, a redness that flushed along his zygomatic bones and a sharpness to his teeth that gave him a menacing look. That and it was only his head that appeared along with the redness of his scarf and gloves that Ash could see.

Everything else was gone, however. 

“... Is that really you, Papyrus?” Ash whispered, shocked and feeling an icy numbness settling uncomfortably in his bones.

The apparition hovered silently a moment longer before seeming to give a sigh.

YOU NO LONGER GO BY THE NAME SANS… AND SEEING AS I AM… NOT THE SKELETON I USED TO BE, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD GO BY A DIFFERENT NAME AS WELL. YOU CALLED ME VAPOR, BEFORE. IT’S… A FITTING DESCRIPTION.

Ash gave a harsh smile, feeling his soul twist painfully.

“Vapor, huh? You’re a little more than that, though… you lent me power during the fight against Gyftrot and gave me healing magic for Jaws and Rake.”

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS, ASH. YOU’LL HAVE TO BEAR WITH ME, IT’S MY FIRST TIME BEING DEAD.”

Ash flinched, with both remorse and guilt, before his brother took on a more sympathetic expression.

MAKE NO MISTAKE, BROTHER, I… WISH YOU HAD CHOSEN A DIFFERENT METHOD. BUT I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DID IT. I… I DON’T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT, BUT WHEN I WOKE UP, I REMEMBERED… QUITE A LOT.

Ash looked up in surprise, his right pupil shrinking.

I REMEMBER THE RESETS… I REMEMBER THE TIMES I WAS CUT DOWN… I’VE BEEN STRUGGLING TO REACH YOU, TO MAKE MYSELF KNOWN, AND STRUGGLING TO KNOW WHAT TO SAY. REACHING THROUGH THIS VEIL IS… DIFFICULT. I SUSPECT I’LL GET BETTER AT IT, GIVEN ENOUGH TIME.

Ash gave a hoarse chuckle, as his sockets flashed.

“Yeah, I suppose we have time… or maybe we won’t. Who knows anymore.” he muttered.

Vapor gave a grim chuckle.

THAT LITTLE HUMAN GAVE YOU SOME HOPE. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD GO TO HER. SHE SEEMED TO EASE YOUR SOUL. TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, BEING EXPOSED TO HER SOUL MADE IT EASIER FOR ME TO SPEAK TO YOU.

Ash shifted guiltily, “I dunno why. She’s just a human.”

Vapor gave him a patient stare.

DID YOU NOT SEE THE STRINGS?

Ash raised a brow.

“What? What strings?”

With a deep, long-suffering sigh, Vapor gave him a side glance.

YOU NEED TO LOOK AT HER SOUL AGAIN… AND COMPARE IT TO YOUR OWN.

The image of his brother began to fade, with his last words softer.

DON’T GIVE UP, BROTHER. STAY DETERMINED.

Ash felt as though some of the weight on his soul had been removed. And he felt more certain than ever that he had to get back to his own dimension, to set things right there.

With this in mind, he turned, only to see shadows flickering unnaturally across the ground.

His teeth tightened into a pained grin, as he snarled.

“S’up, Goop boy. Why so shy? Afraid I’ll _ cut ya to the bone _ if I see your ugly face again?”

The shadows along the ground thickened, like gelatin, and ran like fluid along the ground, rising up into a tall figure.

Ash _ hated _ that he had to look _ up _ at the amorphous entity.

“**I see you’re as charming as ever.” **The Nightmare of a skeleton sneered.

“Cut to the chase, Goopboy. Why are you here?” Ash sneered, “enjoying the shitshow?”

Nightmare grunted, his luminous socket narrowing.

“**Awfully chipper for someone who just spoke to the brother they murdered in cold blood.”**

Ash felt a chill wash over him at the relaxed sneer on the dark, amorphous skull. The bastard _ was _ enjoying this.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Ash snarled, before it dawned on him. They had a soul. The Barrier was gonna be destroyed, and the suffering would finally end.

**“Put two and two together, did you?” ** Sneered Nightmare, **“I’m here to warn you. If you allow the Barrier to be broken, there will be consequences.”**

Ash tilted his head, his ribs rattling with a chuckle.

“Th’ hell d’ya mean _ consequences? _ Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not a true Sans and you sure as hell were never a _ judge _ . So who are you to deal out _ consequences?” _

The skeleton seemed to grow in magnitude, and Ash felt his laughter choked into silence, as all the hurt, all the remorse and anguish seemed to rise to the surface of his soul, holding him in agony as the monstrous skeleton snarled in a deeply distorted voice.

“**You puny little monster, I am NOT someone to be trifled with. You think your title was so special when in reality, you were never ** ** _worthy_ ** ** of the title.”**

Ash felt his soul near shatter with the memories, as they flashed through his mind like a bad movie.

Nightmare hissed in what sounded like ecstasy and Ash cringed, tortured at the thought that his pain was bringing this _ freak _ pleasure.

Suddenly, orange and blue tinted bones flew right through the monster, breaking Nightmare’s concentration. He snarled in rage as he turned towards the attacker, while Ash took a deep, shuddering breath, his sockets leaking with unwanted tears.

“UNHAND HIM AND BEGONE, VILLAIN.” 

Ash flinched at the sound of Rake’s voice, reminded of his brother all over again.

**“I’ll leave after I’ve said my piece. Don’t forget my warning, ** ** _Judge of the Underground. _ ** **I may not be a true Sans, but I keep my word. Count on it.”**

A cruel laughter echoed as the ground seemed to soak up the darkness, until there was not a single trace of the shadowy skeleton left.

Rake approached Ash with caution, his narrow sockets widened.

“ARE YOU OK, IMBECILE?”

Ash gave a guttered laugh, as he looked up.

“No, Rake, no I’m not. How about you? Rested up for your trip to the Capital?”

“YES, BUT… I DON’T LIKE LEAVING YOU AND SA- JAWS HERE BY YOURSELVES.”

“I promise, we won’t kill each other… maim, maybe, but not kill.” Ash chuckled and Rake gave him a withering glare” THAT BRINGS ME NO COMFORT. ONE MORE THING… I BELIEVE THE SOUL WE RETRIEVED FROM GYFTROT IS REASSEMBLING ITSELF.”

“... Come again?” Ash raised a brow.

“I WAS GOING TO TELL JAWS, WHEN I… WHEN I HAPPENED UPON THE SITUATION THAT WAS UNFOLDING HERE.” Rake looked uncomfortable, as he asked, “WAS THAT THE MONSTER WHO… WHO BROUGHT YOU HERE?”

“It was.” Ash grumbled. “I hate that fucker. Let’s go see the soul, Rake.”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Sure enough, the Soul had started morphing back into its original shape.

Ash stared at it in wonder, cupping his mandible in his phalanges, he mused, “This is strange… I know it’s a perseverance soul… I had no idea they were this resilient.”

“IT IS PERHAPS, NOT SO SURPRISING. I REMEMBER THE HUMAN WHO BORE THIS SOUL. SHE WAS… NOT VERY STRONG, BUT CERTAINLY, SHE HAD ENDURANCE. I WAS SORRY WHEN WE REALIZED THAT GYFTROT HAD TAKEN HER.” Rake added softly, looking away with a troubled expression.

Ash snorted softly, “Either way, this is good for us. It means that this soul will indeed stand in for Rose’s soul.”

Rake took the container and hesitated.

“TELL MY BROTHER I HAVE GONE. I WILL BE BACK AS SOON AS I CAN. PLEASE… BE KIND TO ROSE.”

“We’re not gonna hurt her. I promise.” Ash replied, his eyelights rolling.

Rake gave a curt nod as he vanished from Ash’s sight, making the skeleton jump in surprise.

“What the actual-”

SURPRISED? I BET YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD USE THE VOID.

Ash grumbled, at the cackling that he could vaguely hear, although at the moment, he couldn’t see any apparition.

“Very funny, Bro. Wanna tell me your secrets?”

Silence.

“Alright, then, keep ‘em.” He snorted before turning his attention down towards the basement.

… the thought occurred to him that his duplicate might be _ taking a tip-toe through the tulips, so to speak, _ and jealousy flared in his bones as he jumped through the void, landing with a soft thud in the lab.

To his surprise, yes, there was the scent of a recent mating. However, deep silence reigned now, broken only by the startling noise of hoarse snoring. Ash paused, as he observed Jaws, sleeping on his side on the ground. The broken Skeleton had pulled Rose against his body, curled around her like a big guard dog, snoring softly and drooling. Rose was wide awake, but she seemed comfortable, softly tracing Jaws’ phalanges with her own soft fingers.

“You ok there, Rose?” Ash chuckled, drawing her attention to him.

She smiled softly and nodded, “Better than I have been. And you?”

Ash gave her a look of surprise, looking away, he muttered softly, “I don’t know. It’s uh, kinda hard to say.”

Rose gave a slight wriggle, but Jaws’ grip around her tightened, as he snuffled softly into her hair, murmuring huskily.

Ash squatted down next to her, tilting his head at her, he gruffly inquired, “He hurtin’ you?”

“No. I’m really ok here.” Rose admitted, blushing, “I… um, it’s nice to be held… like this.”

Ash gave a snort.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’d never had a boyfriend.”

She shifted guiltily and he blinked.

“I… um, I wasn’t allowed to, uh, to d-date.” She stammered, looking away.

Ash frowned, as he felt a twinge from her soul. There was so much guilt welled up in her; guilt and confusion.

“Who forbade you? You’re an adult, aren’t you?” Ash prodded.

Rose nodded, shivering as she buried herself into Jaws.

“So, who put themselves in the position of ordering you around?”

Rose looked up and her mouth moved with bitterness.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to go back there.”

Ash chuckled, sitting down firmly, he reached out and allowed his phalanges to run through her hair, as she watched him with her hazel eyes.

“Sounds like ya got some skeletons in your closet… an’ I’m not talkin’ about myself and the Geek.”

Rose frowned as she managed to wiggle a little loose, eyeing Ash, she challenged, “The two of you never answered my question. You and Jaws both said that you’re… Comic Sans Gaster… But how can the two of you _ be _ the same person?”

Ash snorted softly, thinking of his encounter with Nightmare as he grumbled, “Ever heard of alternate dimensions, Rosy?”

She raised a brow and Ash chuckled at her.

“I don’t belong in this dimension… you could say that I was, uh, dropped off here against my will.”

“How?” Rose asked simply and Ash gave a grunt, “Some interdimensional bastard thought it’d be funny.”

Rose blinked and wryly replied,” You know, that gives me more questions than answers-”

She paused, as Ash gently put his hand under her chin, brushing her lips with his distal thumb, as he gazed at her.

“... What are you going to do when the barrier is broken?” she finally asked, “Will you return to your dimension?”

“I’m gonna try… There’s things there that I need to fix.” Ash replied.

“.. Is that why you wanted my soul?” she asked, in a guilty tone and he gave a slight chuckle.

“It was… I want your soul for a different reason now.”

Her eyes widened as he leaned forward and gave her a nuzzle, growling, “Stars, an’ I want more than your soul, Rosy... “

She hummed as she leaned into his touch, feeling so strange.

No one had ever touched her like this and she whimpered softly, as Jaws stirred and a rumble rattled through his ribs, as he hoarsely mumbled, “She’s mine, back off, _ Murderer.” _

Rose stilled, remembering that Jaws had called Ash this before. Her eyes flickered to his skull, wondering what the reason for that name was.

For Jaws, she gathered why Ash called him ‘Geek’.

Was Ash really… a _ murderer? _

_ What would it matter if he was? You’re as good as the Adulteress, are you not? _

That nasty voice inside her hissed into her brain and she felt her spirit writhe in confusion and chaos.

“Ya had your fun with her, _ Geek. _ Lemme hold her.”

“**N o, she’s mine.”**

Rose gave a wriggle, “Jaws, please… let me up for a moment.”

**“I don’t wanna.”**

Ash snarled, “Hey, she’s _ mine _ too, asshole.”

Rose felt her spirit flutter. 

In all her life, she had never thought that anyone would look at her twice and had never imagined that anyone would _ want _ her, the way Jaws and Ash did. She was frightened of the pleasure that she drew from this fact. It went against everything that she had ever been taught and yet, it felt _ so good. _

“Ash, lie down.” she whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

Ash stilled under her touch, his sockets fixating on her face as she tugged at him.

He sneered at Jaws, who stubbornly clung to Rose. Carefully, Ash laid down on his side, in front of Rose, ignoring his alternate as the tiny human reached out to tenderly cup his skull in her hands. He closed his sockets in pleasure as she drew him towards her and pressed her soft mouth against his pale teeth.

Ash groaned softly as her touch set something inside his soul at ease. He felt _ light _ and _ assured _, and as she continued to caress him, her hands wandered over his zygomatic bones and further down. He flinched slightly as her fingers slipped past his scarf and tickled along his clavicle, before he opened his mouth against hers.

Rose shivered as she felt him press his cool, slick tongue against her lips and she eagerly allowed him entrance, murmuring against him, “Does this feel good?”

“You know it does, you little minx.” he growled back, as he lightly brushed his hands over her waist, avoiding where Jaws had wrapped his arms around and under her chest.

Ash was displeased to hear Jaws’ rough chuckle, ”Somethin’ the matter?”

“Yeah, you’re bein’ a total _ cockblock right now _. Lemme have her!”

“I dunno if I want to.” The broken skeleton snickered, his red eyelight narrowed.

“Seriously, asshole?” Ash snorted, giving a manic grin, he gripped Rose’s hips and sneered, “If you wanna play dirty, _ fine. _ I’m done asking _ nicely.” _

And he warped away, with Rose in his grasp.

Jaws snarled, as he found himself gripping empty air.

Ash landed with Rose in his arms, falling into Rake’s old, deteriorating race-car bed.

“Aw, Ash, now why’d you have to go and do that?” Rose scolded, but she was cut off, when Ash drew her into another kiss, fiercely grumbling against her,” You belong to me too, little Rose.”

DID YOU STOP TO ASK HER WHAT SHE WANTED?

Ash paused, grumbling at the voice, he glared just behind Rose’s shoulder, spotting the fading afterimage of Vapor. That question gave him pause, even as her scent swirled into his senses, driving him to touch her with longing as he groaned huskily.

“Rose… do you really want me to take you back to Jaws?”

“I-” Rose faltered, as she looked his skull, which was twisted with _ yearning. _

“I want you, but, I don’t want Jaws to be alone.” she admitted softly.

Ash hummed as he leaned forward and licked at her neck groaning softly, “He can wait, can’t he? For just a few minutes? I’ve been waiting my turn, so patiently… I need ya, Rose.”

Rose leaned back into him, her body heating up under his desperate touches.

“A-Ash,” she whined, as he dragged his tongue along the scars he had left on her shoulder, groaning into her ear, “He can wait. Let me have you… _ please.” _

Rose nodded and whimpered, murmuring, “O-Ok, I, hhnng, i suppose that’s f-fair-”

And he flipped their positions, pinning her to the dilapidated bed, struggling to push down the band of his pants, but she pushed back at him, whimpering, “A-Ash, I need… I want to taste you.”

He froze, his sockets fixating on her as he murmured, “Y-you do?”

“I… Yes. Yes please.” She nodded, in a far more assured tone as she pushed at him, causing him to sit up on his knees. Pushing down the band of his pants, she licked her lips at the sight of his deeply cyan and iridescent indigo cock, his strong, acerbic scent stinging her nose and causing her mouth to water.

The fact that she had always thought of this, but had never allowed herself to think it was _ ok _, drove her forward, the temptation of forbidden fruit too much for her to withstand.

“F-fuck,” Ash groaned, as he felt the wet velvet of her tongue shyly running over his head, looking down at the sight of her auburn locks, all but hiding her face from him.

He reached down, his ribs rattling with desire as he gently pulled her hair back from her face, revealing her gorgeous lips wrapped around his length.

“H-harder, Rose, please, “He rasped, gripping her hair and giving shallow spasms into her mouth, resisting the urge to outright harpoon her throat.

Rose felt herself grow wet, as she felt his grip in her hair.

That urgency in his voice gave her a sense of power, as she gave a hoarse gasp, pulling back to blink up into his face with a hazy expression.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, running his thumb over her wet lips, captivated by the flush of her cheeks.

Gracing him with a smile, she turned her attention back to his length and gripped her hands around the base of it, her mouth wrapping around the head of it once more.

Ash whimpered, at her firm grip, and with a hoarse groan, he bent forward, wrapping his arms around her, huffing as she drew him closer to the precipice, the room filled with the loud sounds her lewd sucking and his gasps and growling curses, until he gave a hard shudder, his body locking up and spasming in turns.

Rose whimpered, as she felt his length pulse and suddenly a hazy warmth was spilling into her mouth bitter and sour, with a hint of sweetness that had not been there before.

As Ash trembled and drew in a breath, his sockets flashing with intense energy, as he pulled back to caress her cheeks, his teeth pulling back in a soft grin.

“... You must have been hungry, huh?”

“... That’s cruel, Ash.” Rose pouted softly. She inclined her head at him, as a thought ran through her mind.

“... How long have you been down here? You… don’t seem as hungry as the others.”

“It’s only been about three months, by my calculations. I’m hungry, sure, but, the others have been going _ years _ without food.” Ash rumbled, feeling sick at the thought of the other monster’s slow torture.

Rose shivered, as she wrapped her arms around him, curling into his body as she whimpered, “Will we really get out of here?”

“Yeah… we will, Rose.”

Rose hummed as she murmured, “Let’s go back to Jaws now.”

Ash chuckled at her concern, as something in his soul softened.

She was so accepting of that asshole… it gave him hope that, even when she learned the truth of his own sordid past, maybe she’d be accepting of him too.

YOU’D BETTER NOT COUNT YOUR COCKATRICES BEFORE THEY HATCH, ASH.

Ash warped with Rose back to the lab, where Jaws had lumbered to his feet, his eyelight dilated.

“Jaws, it’s ok.” Rose called to him, and he turned, instantaneously by her side and drawing her into his arms, as he glared at Ash.

“You do that again, and I’ll tear you to _ dust.” _

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too, asshole.” Ash growled.

“You two need to stop fighting.” Rose suddenly spoke, her eyes giving a spark of light.

They both stilled, as she went on, “I don’t know what this is, between the three of us, but I can’t deny that I… I need the two of you. You’ve made it clear that you need me too. If the two of you can’t get along, whatever this is will never last, do you understand? You’re both better than this.”

“How do you know?” Ash asked her with a strange expression.

“Because your actions have spoken far louder than your words.” Rose replied, “I have faith in you… both of you.” she looked up at Jaws, who gazed back at her with flushed zygomatic bones.

“The both of you either need to _ take turns _, or you need to- to share.” she turned bright red as those words left her lips, and her insides squirmed. 

Ash and Jaws both look flummoxed, at the tone of voice Rose had taken. This was the most spine they had seen her show, and as she trembled under their gazes, Jaws felt his soul twist, at the fear that rolled off her.

“Why are you shaking, Rose?”

“I… I just… I can’t stand when you fight.” she gulped.

Ash’s eye-lights flickered, as he put together bits and pieces of her words, along with her behavior, glancing at Jaws as he did so.

“Ok, Rose… so what do you want?” He asked gruffly.

Rose gave a hollow laugh, as she looked at the two of them.

“I’m not used to being asked about what _ I _ want.” she replied, her cheeks flushed… “But I know, for a fact, that I want _ both _ of you… and I don’t care what the consequences are, or what anyone says.”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8 

Rake hurried through the underground, the soul capsule tucked firmly under his arm, as he traversed, using every shortcut that he was aware of.

There was a time before when he would have rather stomped on his own feet then use a shortcut, but with so many depending on him, he felt the importance of his hurry.

Undyne would be so surprised… and maybe, she would give up on her plan of revenge against the humans…

He came to a halt, as a web stretched across the entrance to the Core stood in his way.

Furrowing his brow, Rake felt a thousand tiny eyes boring into him.

“MUFFET.” He greeted coolly,” TO WHAT DO I OWE THE HONOR?”

“”Hello, Sweet Papyrus.” Muffet dropped in front of him, swinging on a loop of webbing, her fanged grin glistening at him, “You hardly _ ever _ come around anymore, Dearie… did you get tired of my pastries? I thought you were fond of my _ cream pies _?” she pouted at him with a lascivious wink.

Rake scowled, feeling sick as he replied sternly, “I HAVE IMPORTANT BUSINESS WITH THE QUEEN, MUFFET, AND I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR PERSONAL CHATTER.”

“So cruel, Papyrus… does your business have to do with _ this _ soul?” she held up the soul container and Rake felt his bones rattle with anxiety and _ anger. _

_ HOW DID SHE- _

Muffet giggled as she watched his dead sockets flash with crackling amber energy, his teeth rasping with a menacing hiss as he summoned two bone staffs to his hands, his voice becoming distorted with power.

“RETURN THE SOUL AT ONCE.”

“I don’t think I will, Dearie. I think,” Muffet gave a sneer,” I think I will take this soul to Undyne… and wring every drop of gold from her that I can before I give it up.

Rake raised his hands, and the web that Muffet had been lounging on was cut with a bone, as he growled, “**THEN YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE.”**

Muffet moved impossibly fast, as she skittered to her feet, stomping her foot, she summoned her spiders to her command, snarling, “Papyrus, you poor, sweet fool, you should have walked away when you had the chance!”

Rake gave a raucous laugh, his sockets guttering with fiery colors as he sneered.

“IF YOU THOUGHT I’D WALK AWAY, THEN YOU CLEARLY NEVER KNEW ME AT ALL, MUFFET!”

And with that, Papyrus’s magic flashed, as he snared Muffet’s soul with blue magic, tossing her into the air.

He quickly swept bones left and right, as her horde of children converged on him, his teeth snapping in agitation as she used her webbing to catch herself, escaping his grasp, she snarled at her children, “Fill him with poison! I think it’s time we add some _ calcium _ to our recipe!”

His bones rattling, Rake made his own soul blue, rising into the air effortlessly, he swept away the string that held Muffet in place, trying to take the soul from her.

The soul container prevented him from grabbing it with his magic, and Muffet sneered as she smoothly moved through the air, dodging his attacks and sending more silken strands to cushion her descent, she landed with a grace that he once admired, flippantly sneering, “I’m sorry, Dearie, but it looks like you’re out of luck-”

At that moment, a knife sprouted through Muffet’s chest and she gaped, swallowing and gulping convulsively in surprise.

“Wha-what-”

And the knife disappeared before her head was swept clean off her shoulders from her scrawny neck.

Her head toppled to the ground before her form crumbled into dust. The soul container was caught casually, as the disappearing form of Muffet revealed…

“...SANS? NO, NO, YOU’RE ANOTHER ALTERNATE.” Rake frowned warily.

The skeleton grinned, his sockets devoid of light and hateful darkness tracing down his zygomatic bones like tears of the deepest pitch.

With a sneer, the skeleton chuckled, in almost a sing-song tone of voice.

“I guess you could say she lost her head."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks to Rosedarkfire, for her help and for beta'ing this chapter. ^_^


	6. Fleeting Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaws and Ash come to realize that they'll do just about anything for Rose... Unfortunately for them, Ruthless has no problem following Nightmare's orders and making life hell for others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH LOOK AN UPDATE

Rake shivered at the heartless expression of the shorter skeleton before him. His sockets narrowed and his broken teeth gnashed against each other as he eyed the soul canister that was firmly grasped within the shorter skeleton’s phalanges.

“So,” The skeleton snickered. “ _ This _ is the answer to all your problems, huh?”

Rake shifted, his mind racing as he took in the sight of his brother’s duplicate. There was nothing remotely calming about the grinning, black-socketed skeleton, who sneered, “Thanks a skele _ ton _ ,  _ Papyrus _ . I’ll say “hi” to your brother and his friend when I see ‘em!”

And the skeleton vanished before Rake’s eyes.

With a snarl, Rake tried to open the path through the void that the strange skeleton had gone. 

The way was riddled with intense hatred and malice. Rake felt like he was choking as he warped through the wake of the void, moving at a far slower pace than his brother's duplicate, who cut through reality with ease.

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Ash looked at Jaws with apprehension. 

Rose’s declaration hung in the air and her hazel eyes flashed with something powerful and pure.

Ash set his mandible, shoving his phalanges into his pockets as he grumbled reluctantly, “If that’s what makes ya happy, Rosy…”

Jaws grunted, his blood-red iris settling on Rose. She flushed under his gaze and he growled reluctantly, “... I’m not sharin’ ya with  _ anyone _ else, understand?”

Rose smiled thinly, her shoulders relaxing as she held a hand out to both.

“I can’t wait to live on the surface with  _ both _ of you.” Her eyes squinted in a soft smile.

Ash felt his soul weaken at her peaceful expression. Jaws’ tight grin had relaxed, and Ash could have sworn that he saw a hint of the old, lazy judge of the underground in that broken skull.

So when a knife sprouted through her chest without warning, it took them all off guard.

Rose’s eyes bled with life, going blank as she fell forward.

Ash and Jaws both moved at the same time to catch her.

Ash’s sockets leaked with crimson and sapphire magic as he looked up at the cause of Rose’s murder.

His teeth nearly cracked as he saw another duplicate of himself.

He knew who this skeleton was.

Ruthless, the lackey of Nightmare.

The hollow-socketed Skeleton sneered, “Nightmare sends his regards.” 

His chest flashed with a red pulse underneath his t-shirt and Ash shouted, No,  _ don’t-” _

But before he could finish, the world around him  _ vanished. _

Ruthless snickered as he eyed the options before him. Each choice glittered orange within the darkened world.

_ *Continue _

_   
*Load _

_ *Reset _

_ *Erase _

“You boys really pissed off the Boss-man.” Ruthless snickered, selecting * _ Load. _

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Ash woke up on the ground, his skull aching and his teeth gritted as he clutched his ribcage.

There was a dull ache in his ribs, a pain that throbbed through his whole frame.

_ Rose had been killed right before his eyes before she was taken away from him. _

Getting to his feet, he looked around.

He was still in Horrortale… But  _ when _ was he?

He could hear the sounds of crunching snow, and he came to the realization that this was  _ the same day _ that he’d first arrived here in this hell hole.

_ So much time had been lost. _

…

“Rose.” He struggled to his feet, staggering a little. He had a full two weeks before she would appear down here again. 

If he could  _ find _ Jaws and Rake, they could confront Gyftrot before Rose fell, perhaps break the barrier before Rose fell.

He paused at that thought. What if they were unable to find her once they reached the surface? What if she was lost to them  _ forever. _

_ BROTHER, YOU NEED TO CALM YOURSELF. _

_ “...Vapor?” _

Ash looked up to see the ghostly form of his brother. Vapor looked at him with a ragged smile.

YOU NEED TO FOCUS, BROTHER. FIND JAWS AND RAKE. YOU CAN DECIDE WHAT TO DO FROM THERE. WE HAVE TIME TO PLAN. THERE WILL BE NO SURPRISES THIS TIME. AND YOU KNOW NOW THAT NIGHTMARE INTENDS TO KEEP US HERE, UNTIL YOU DECIDE TO BEND TO HIS WILL. WE’LL THINK OF SOMETHING.

Ash took a ragged breath, his soul giving a tight, harsh pain.

The crunching of snow had stopped, and Ash sat up, looking around warily.

There was his doppleganger, looking just as lost and confused as him.

There was a profound moment of silence between the two of them before Jaws shifted, his teeth turning downwards.

“Mind explainin’ to me just who the fuck that was?”

“... The fucker that brought me here has enslaved other alternates before us. I met that particular asshole when Nightmare first appeared to me. He calls that Sans ‘ _ Ruthless _ ’.”

Jaws growled as he hefted his hatchet in his grip, giving a dead expression.

“If I ever see that fucker again…  _ I’m gonna grind his bones to dust.” _

Ash growled.

“We have to make sure he doesn’t get the Perseverance soul again. If he does, it won’t make a damn bit of difference what the fuck we do.”

Jaws nodded solemnly, before twitching, his teeth leaking with darkness.

“M’so  _ hungry.” _

Ash looked at the sallow, cadaverous skeleton with apprehension.

“... You remember what Rose did for us, don’t you?”

Jaws froze at the mention of Rose’s name, his teeth leaking even  _ more  _ with wanton greed.

With a sickening feeling, Ash wondered if Jaws was truly in his right mind.

After all… he had been  _ extremely _ difficult to deal with before Rose came into the picture, only mildly tamed by the taste of her moon blood.

“Don’t you dare take a bite of her, Jaws.”

“I  _ will not.” _ Jaws snarled. “I… I  _ wouldn’t.” _

“Are ya sure about that?” Ash frowned. Jaws snapped his teeth together.

“I’ve never eaten an  _ ounce  _ of human flesh, i-”

“You were ready to, when we met her.”

“That was before I met her, . I won’t forget her.”

“...What if he does a reset.” Ash asked warily.

Jaws opened his mouth, but then shut it, his socket going hazy.

“... I don’t want to forget her.” He gruffly mumbled.

BROTHER, HE HAS A POINT. YOU REMEMBERED ALL THE RESETS, BUT THERE’S NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU’LL REMEMBER THEM IN THIS TIMELINE  _ IF _ THEY OCCUR.

Vapor spoke slowly, and Ash growled as he contemplated. 

Ash summoned a bone knife, putting Jaws on edge as Ash reached along his own sleeve and tugged it up, revealing his radius and ulna.

He gritted his teeth before making a few quick, deep cuts, hissing as he worked, until the scars revealed an intricate pattern.

Jaws grimaced as he gazed at the self-inflicted wound. Ash had carved a  _ rose _ onto his own ulna.

Wordlessly, Jaws held out his forearm, and Ash quickly gave him the mark. It was all Jaws could do to hold still as the image was quickly cut into his bone, and he growled as he jerked back from Ash.

“So now what?”

“We get Rake and hunt down Gyftrot. Get that soul before Rose falls down. Once she’s here, We’ll break the barrier and take her back to the surface.”

“... She won’t remember us.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing.” Ash looked at Jaws with narrowed sockets. “We have a second chance to make things right with her.”

Jaws slowly nodded, his teeth tightening with hunger as he clenched his phalanges into a fist. He wasn’t going to  _ scare _ her this time. He was going to  _ protect her _ .

The wind howled around them in a sudden gust and with it came the strange, mournful cry of a starving monster.

“ _ Gyftrot.” Ash snarled. _

_ “ _ It shouldn’t be hard to introduce you to Rake this time.” Jaws grumbled as he turned, and Ash frowned.

NOW, WASN’T THIS MUCH BETTER? Vapor snorted as he flitted over Ash’s skull, snickering, LAST TIME, YOU WERE SO BITTER AND HATEFUL TOWARDS HIM.

_ “Not like I didn’t have a reason to be. Bastard tried to  _ bite _ me.”  _

“You talkin’ to your ghosts again, Murderer?” Jaws grumbled as he heard Ash mutter and the hooded skeleton snapped.

“None of your business,  _ Geek.” _

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

When Rose opened her eyes, she found herself in a bed of dried, withered flowers. Her brows scrunched at the sight of all the  _ dust. _

Struggling to her feet, she put a hand over her chest. Something inside of her  _ ached. _

_ Like something was missing. _

Her head ached terribly and she shakily stood to her feet. 

_ Where am I…? _

With her whole body aching, Rose began to walk, her movements timid as she moved through the dark, taking a backwards glance towards the speck of light as a tear traced down her pale, dirty cheek.

** _Ashes to ashes, dust to dust._ **

She forced the harsh words out of her mind as she hurried away from the light, running into the dark with cautious steps.

As she found traces of light glowing in the cavernous purple hallways, she started feeling, strangely, that she’d  _ seen _ these places before.

The loneliness and the  _ terror _ that she felt running up through her body, from the bottoms of her feet to the hairs standing up on the nape of her neck struck a chord within her.

When she came upon the little house in the strange Ruins, her heart plummeted.

A cold thought traced an icy finger down her spine.

_ I don’t want to go inside there again. _

Somehow, she managed to force her feet to move. And when she entered the house, it was like the silence became  _ deafening. _

Her breath was suddenly too loud, her bare feet scraping against the floors with a grotesque noise.

Rose hardly acknowledged that her clothes were ripped and torn, and the fact that she was barefoot. Her own existence was  _ too loud. _

Suddenly, she heard  _ footsteps behind her,  _ and she whipped around, her heart hammering in her ears.

But there was nothing. Just a cold breeze that tugged at her hair and tripped across her back. She tried to relax, to tell herself that it was nothing.

A voice like a child whispered into her ear.

_ Knock, knock. _

Rose  _ darted _ for the basement, plunging on ahead through the hallway, until she found the  _ door. _

“Let me out,” she whimpered, pushing against the giant barricade, her movements frantic as she shoved herself again. She couldn’t bear to even  _ glance _ behind, to see if there was anyone there.

_ “I don’t want to know, I don’t want to know, please, just let me out, LET ME OUT-” _

The seemingly immutable door suddenly gave way and Rose found herself tumbling head first into a snowy environment.

Her mind froze as the door shut behind her, and with her teeth chattering, she stumbled to her feet.

The cold bit into her skin, and she clasped her arms around her body.

Her mind seemed to skip like a broken record. Something… there was something strange about this. The snow… those trees…. The dead silence…

Rose forced herself to move, her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched as she made her way down a path that was obviously cut through the thick, dead forest.

The cold was making her shiver violently, but she pressed on.

There was no going back to the purple tomb she had just left, and even if there was a way for her to turn around, she wouldn’t.

No, that place was  _ haunted _ , and she’d rather die of the cold then to dwell amongst the ghosts that haunted that place.

A sudden snap of a branch echoed behind her, and Rose whipped around.

But there was nothing there. No one was behind her.

A shudder ran through Rose’s body. Her breath shuddered from her lips in an icy mist as she turned back to trudge through the snow.

Vaguely, she was starting to wonder where she had put her shoes.

_ Too late for that, isn’t it? _

Rose swallowed harshly, trying to focus on taking one step at a time. Her hazel eyes went sharp with fear as a long, mournful cry broke the silence.

_ There was something in the woods. _

Rose broke into a run, each breath stabbing her lungs as she looked desperately for a place to hide. The trees seemed to mock her with their scant branches and icy limbs.

_ You never should have left home, you little slut! _

Rose tried to shove the voice away from her mind, giving a stiff exhale of fear as the cry sounded out again. This time, she could clearly hear it. 

_ That’s a wolf! _

Her teeth clenched.

This time, there were barks that filled the air, hoarse growls and snarls.

Rose could  _ hear them growing closer. _

With a fresh burst of fear, she ran through the snow, catching movement out of the corners of her eyes. She broke away from the path when she saw movement flicker up ahead, taking a side path around a steep bluff.

_ It’s almost like they’re herding me- _

Her thoughts died as she ran head first into a dead end.

Turning, Rose shivered, her teeth clenched as she faced her pursuers.

Two long bodied canine-like creatures were crouched behind her, their teeth slavering with drool.

“Look, honey, it’s food...” One snarled and the second hissed in agreement. 

Their eyes were sunken, their teeth glimmered like knives as they crouched before her.

“No-no, please!” Rose whimpered, desperately looking for an escape. There was no where for her to go. This looked like the end.

Just as the starving dogs sprang forward to snap her up in their teeth, Rose watched as a barrier of bones suddenly sprouted from the ground and the dogs howled in frustration at the barricade.

“This way!”

Rose turned, as her hand was grabbed by a cold, hard appendage. Her breath caught in her throat. 

The hand  _ felt  _ bony because it  _ was _ bony. A tall, imposing Skeleton had gripped her hand, his sockets flashing with ruby and sapphire light that shimmered and moved like smoke.

“Hurry, that barricade won’t hold them for long!” A similar voice snarled and Rose saw a second skeleton at the top of the bluff.

The skeleton who had grabbed her hand gave a snarl as he swept her off her feet and she felt the world around her vanish as reality shifted.

She blinked, and the world reappeared. The first skeleton still had her in his arms and he roughly growled, “Better entrap the mutts, Jaws, or we’re gonna have company.”

The skeleton standing at the edge of the bluff gave a smile as he smirked.

“You just take care of her. I’ll deal with the Snowdin Hounds.”

Rose turned, her heart pulsing wildly. There was something about their voices that seemed  _ familiar, and she didn’t understand why. _

Her stomach turned fuzzy as she looked back and forth between the two.

There was an odd shift, again, and she found herself in a house. 

The skeleton, Ash, set her down on a couch and he gruffly muttered, “You look like yer freezing… Let’s get ya warmed back up.”

Her body froze with fear as he moved to tower over her, but her voice died in her throat as he wrapped his jacket around her, moving slowly as he gave a grunt of satisfaction. He seemed to think a moment before he took off his red scarf and wrapped it around her neck and shoulders.

Instantly, Rose felt warmer, and somehow, she felt  _ safer _ with the rough wool of the scarf wrapped around her skin.

“There. Ya should be good now.” Ash’s strange, heterochromia sockets narrowed on her as he chuckled, “S’a matter, human? Ya look like ya’ve seen a ghost.”

“I... I…” Rose stuttered, unable to draw a clear thought.

“It’s ok, Rabbit, I’m not gonna bite’cha. Not unless ya ask.” He chuckled with some mischief. 

She flushed at the innuendo and her stomach somersaulted.  _ Why does that excite me? _

“You… you saved me back there.” Rose stuffly muttered, feeling confusion tug at her.

Why. Why  _ had _ he saved her from the dogs?

Ash reached out to her and she felt a strange sense of yearning as he brushed his cold phalanges against her skin.

“Don’t be scared, Rabbit. Jaws an’ I won’ let anything happen to ya.”

“I… My name’s  _ Rose _ .” she stammered and his sockets went soft.

“Nice to meet you, Rose.”

There was a strange noise and the second skeleton appeared, sweaty and huffing as his cyclopean gaze locked onto Rose.

“Did anyone see ya?” He demanded of the first skeleton, who shook his head.

“Naw, Jaws. I got her here safely.”

“Wh-what is this place?” Rose asked, her voice trembling.

Jaws felt his teeth leak with saliva. His hunger was rumbling in his bones at the sight of her. With a force of desperation, he focused on speaking to her, explaining the Underground’s plight and the reason for the starving monster-dogs.

“It’s extremely important that you stay out of sight, Rosy.” Jaws finished gruffly. “Any sees ya, and you’ll either be eaten or  _ taken to the Queen.” _

“But… You need my soul to get out of here. That’s what you just said.” Rose murmured softly, her eyes seeking out the floor.”

“We ain’t usin’ your soul ta get out of here.” Ash growled, his sockets going dark.

“But,  _ why?”  _ Rose pushed. “You know nothing about me and you owe me nothing!”

Ash glanced at Jaws. This wasn’t something they could explain to her without looking like lunatics.

However, the door opened at that moment and Rake came stomping in, his sockets narrowed.

“GYFTOT’S ON THE MOVE AGAIN. IF WE WANT TO CATCH HIM, NOW’S THE TIME.” He announced with a tone of relief.

Rose blinked up at the tall, spindly skeleton and Rake gave her a thin smile.

“OH, HELLO, LITTLE HUMAN. I HOPE I DIDN’T SCARE YOU.” He sounded  _ timid, and it tore at Rose’s heart. _

“I…” Rose paused as the tall skeleton spoke again, his loud voice going a little softer, almost in a voice of regret.   
  
“WE’VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THIS PLAN TO GET OUT BEFORE ANY MORE HUMANS FALL UNDERGROUND. I’M SO SORRY THAT… THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO FULFILL IT BEFORE YOU CAME ALONG.”

Rose looked at him closer. Again, there was a tug at her heart. His appearance was _brutal and monstrous;_ she should have been  _ terrified. _

_ Why is he familiar? I was so frightened of the dogs… and that house in the ruins… I don’t feel that way with these skeletons… _

Rose swallowed harshly and her body trembled.

“Why are the three of you being so… so  _ kind _ to me? You owe me nothing. In fact, from what you have said… it sounds like I shouldn’t be anything more than an easier solution for your freedom.”

“That’s not important right now.” Ash returned gruffly as he finally shifted, looking at both Jaws and Rake.

“Let’s go get that bastard. Rose, you stay here. Don’t go near the windows, and don’t let  _ anyone _ inside.”

Jaws added with a snarl, “If you hear anyone knock,  _ go upstairs and lock yourself in the bedroom to the far right.” _

That command sent a shiver down Rose’s spine, but she nodded as the skeletons filed towards the door.

“Wait!” She called out suddenly. Her heart trembled in her breast as they turned to look at her with confusion.

“P-please be careful out there!” She begged softly without understanding _why_ she needed them to be careful.

_I need to see you all again. Please_.

Jaws’ expression softened, and Ash gave a choked noise as he turned, unable to meet her gaze as his soul thumped. 

_ Does she realize? Does she remember? _

Ash couldn’t bear to look at her face, which held no recognition for the previous timeline. 

_ Take care of her, Vapor. Please. _

YOU KNOW I WILL, BROTHER.

Jaws shut and locked the door behind them, and Rake activated the traps around the house with a flick of his wrist, his magic absorbing into the ground underneath and around the house.

Then, they flickered from view, folding reality and crossing over the crease in space and time until they were standing at the edge of the forest, Rake in front.

“YOU KNOW THE PLAN. NO MISTAKES THIS TIME.”

Jaws snarled, his socket flaring to life.

“Let’s get this over with.”

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

When Gyftrot finally dissolved into dust, with the soul fragments swept up safely into the containment jar, Jaws was sweating profusely, his magic drained and his eye guttering out.

“We… We  _ did _ it.”

Ash’s t-shirt was drenched with lavender tinged sweat as he nodded.

Rake limped towards them, his leg cracked from a blow he’d received.

“I’LL TAKE THE SOUL QUICKLY.” Rake growled. “NO ONE WILL STOP ME THIS TIME.”

Ash winced at the sight of Rake’s leg and shook his head.

“Nah, Rake, I’ll take it. Undyne doesn’t have to know that I’m  _ not _ your Sans. The two of you go and take care of Rose.”

But as Ash reached for the canister that Rake offered, a sickly glow surrounded it.

Ash almost felt like time slowed down as the canister was snatched before he could grasp it.

They turned to find Ruthless, standing in the midst of Gyftrot’s ashes, his grin widening.

“Thanks for doing the hard work for me, boys!” He said cheerfully, his teeth glinted with malice as the soul shards within the canister writhed.

Jaws roared as the world around them faded, and his mournful howl echoed in the Void.

Ruthless snickered and his laughter grew louder at the despair that he’d seen inside the expressions of the three skeletons that he’d taken by surprise.

“Did you enjoy that, Nightmare?” he spoke aloud.

The silence that filled the void seemed to intensify and Ruthless gave a snicker as his soul pulsed red.

“I thought you might. Let’s make the next go round a little more  _ exciting _ this time.”

His laughter echoed as he hit * _ Load. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^^* thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> ... Oh boy.


End file.
